Several members of a white supremacist prison gang operating in Alaska correctional facilities and two other states have been charged in a racketeering enterprise that includes counts of murder, assault, kidnapping and distribution of drugs and firearms.
Six men, including one who legally changed his name to Filthy Fuhrer, are charged in the Aug. 3, 2017, kidnapping and murder of another member, Michael Staton.
Bryan Schroder, Alaska’s U.S. Attorney, said Wednesday two others have already pleaded guilty to the murder count. He said the men were members of the white supremacist gang known as the 1488s. The indictments stated the gang was founded in approximately 2010 within the Alaska Department of Corrections, and by Alaskan inmates incarcerated within the Colorado Department of Corrections and the Arizona Department of Corrections through interstate compact agreements.
The indictments and plea deals unsealed Wednesday didn’t mention any illegal activity at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau, but at least two people with Juneau ties were sentenced as a result of the investigation into the 1488s.
Last year, 35-year-old Juneau man Christopher Davison was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Former Juneau resident Alexander J. Netling, 25, was sentenced to five years in prison for the same crime. Both men were originally indicted as a result of the investigation into the 1488s, prosecutors say.
Davison was previously convicted for third-degree criminal mischief in 2010 and first-degree vehicle theft in 2012. Davison was also convicted in May 2018 on a riot charge that stemmed from a riot at Lemon Creek Correctional Center on Oct. 5, 2015.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office sent out photographs of some of the defendants, including Netling. Netling, who goes by “Bruiser” according to the office’s press release, is shown in the photos with a swastika tattooed on the back of his head and “kill cops” tattooed on the right side of his head.
While in Juneau, Netling was sent to Johnson Youth Center for unlawful evasion. While at JYC, Netling and another person there escaped, according to an October 2013 Empire article. Netling then pleaded guilty to possessing items to make methamphetamine in 2014, according to electronic court records and an August 2014 Empire article.
The indictments don’t mention Davison or Netling, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s release only mentions they were indicted as part of the investigation into the gang.
The indictment says there are between 50 and 100 members operating inside and outside prisons in Alaska and elsewhere, and that the gang offered protection to white inmates as long as they agreed to “be white, look white and act white.”
The “14” in 1488 refers to a 14-word slogan used by white nationalists and white supremacists: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The indictment states “88” refers to the 88 precepts written by white supremacist David Lane, and that it also stands for “Heil Hitler,” as H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
• This is an Associated Press report by Mark Thiessen. Alex McCarthy contributed to this report.
Alexander Netling, formerly of Juneau. (Courtesy Photo | U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Alaska)
Alexander Netling, formerly of Juneau. (Courtesy Photo | U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Alaska)
This photo of Christopher Davison was released by the Juneau Police Department when it issued a BOLO advisory April 21, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Juneau Police Department)
