Aryan Warriors member sentenced in prison gang crimes

A member of the Aryan Warriors was sentenced today to 11 years in a federal penitentiary for his role in a prison gang that dealt drugs, engaged in murder and corrupted jail guards.

Kory Crossman pumped his fist when U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson agreed to give the prisoner the lower sentence of a range outlined in Crossman’s plea deal with the federal government.

Crossman has already served 32 months of a 52-month sentence for a weapons possession charge. Dawson agreed to allow the new sentence to run concurrently with his present prison term.

Dawson said he gave Crossman a break “to encourage others who are in this case to plea and save the government the expense and time of having to go to trial.”

Fourteen members of the prison gang were indicted in 2007 on charges related to distributing methamphetamine and promoting white supremacy through the use of violence and extortion. The gang was active inside and outside of Nevada’s prisons.

Daniel Egan also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced next year.

Sporting a bald tattooed head and a striped prison jumpsuit, Crossman briefly addressed the court.

“The government didn’t have to give me the deal, but they did,” he said. “I’m going to try to make the most of it.”

Crossman requested to be imprisoned in Sheridan, Ore., where an extensive treatment program for methamphetamine use is offered. He also asked to be jailed with Egan so they can work through the program together.