Guilty plea ends lengthy federal case against Aryan Warriors

Ronald "Joey" Sellers, once the reputed leader of the violent Aryan Warriors prison gang, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday in the attempted jailhouse murder of an associate.

His plea brings an end to the 4-year-old racketeering case accusing Sellers and the white supremacist group of committing murder, corrupting prison guards, extorting money from inmates and running illegal drug and gambling operations.

At the time of the July 2007 indictment, authorities considered the Aryan Warriors one of Nevada's most violent prison gangs, alleging its activities stretched beyond prison walls.

Sellers, 43, who is serving two Nevada life sentences without parole for murder with the use of a deadly weapon, is the last of 13 indicted gang members and associates to resolve the charges in the federal case. A dozen other defendants either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.

On Monday, Sellers, dressed in jail garb with tattoos covering both arms and sporting brown shoulder-length hair, pleaded guilty to one felony count of violent crime in aid of racketeering by assault with a dangerous weapon.

He admitted that he stabbed fellow gang member Guy Almony several times with a makeshift metal knife at the North Las Vegas Detention Center several months after the 2007 indictment. Sellers said he thought Almony was cooperating with the government. Eventually, Almony struck a deal with prosecutors to testify about the stabbing in court.

Sellers, who suffers from a failing liver, acknowledged that because of his lengthy criminal history he probably would receive the maximum 20-year prison term on the federal assault charge at his Jan. 11 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson.

When Dawson asked Sellers why he attacked Almony behind bars, Sellers responded, "He's a liar, a rat and a traitor ... I stabbed him in the throat and chest."

Sellers also acknowledged that he was "in charge" of the Aryan Warriors when he was first indicted in 2007.

In return for his guilty plea in the assault, the government is dismissing the other racketeering charges against Sellers, which include the slaying of a Nevada prison inmate, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss said.

Sellers admitted in his 11-page plea agreement that prosecutors could prove a series of facts at trial about the illicit activities of the Aryan Warriors, as well as his "position of prominence" within the gang.

"The Aryan Warriors, comprised solely of white males, espoused racial purity and sought to control the Nevada prison system and to operate in various communities in Nevada, including Reno, Las Vegas and Pahrump," the agreement said.

Gang members, the agreement said , made money within the prison system by trafficking in drugs, extorting cash through threats and acts of violence and running illegal gambling operations.

"The Aryan Warriors corrupted prison guards, and they persuaded women and men outside of the prison to carry into the prison narcotics, as well as to launder money from the sale of narcotics," the agreement said.

Steve Suwe, the public information officer for the Nevada Department of Corrections, said late Monday the Aryan Warriors are still active in the prisons.

But he added, "The federal case certainly did a lot to diminish their power base."

For two years, the federal case against Sellers was put on hold while federal prosecutors considered seeking the death penalty. Prosecutors abandoned the effort in August 2010 under a directive from Attorney General Eric Holder, as Sellers' lawyers continued to insist he was dealing with "end stage" liver failure.

At one point, defense lawyers sought to force federal authorities holding Sellers in custody to pay for an expensive liver transplant, but the operation never occurred.

Sellers attributed his liver problems to being infected with hepatitis C because of unsanitary conditions in the state prison system.

While waiting in court to enter his guilty plea, Sellers appeared jovial, cracking jokes at the defense table next to his attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Michael Kennedy.

Afterward, Kennedy said getting the other criminal charges dismissed in the case was a good deal for Sellers.

He said his client's health is stable right now, but the liver disease he suffers from is a fatal condition.

The trial of five associates of Sellers took place in May 2009 under tightened security at the federal courthouse. FBI intelligence reports had warned that the gang was planning "unspecified major disruptions," and concerns were raised about the safety of the prosecution team and its witnesses.

The trial, however, took place without incident, and all five defendants were convicted.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.