FRESNO - Danny Troxell, 72, of Fresno, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to life in prison for participating in a RICO conspiracy and a conspiracy to commit murder, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to evidence produced at trial, between 2011 and 2019, Aryan Brotherhood (or AB) members and associates engaged in racketeering activity, committing multiple acts involving murder, conspiracies to murder, and drug trafficking crimes. The trial evidence showed that Aryan Brotherhood members oversaw a significant heroin and methamphetamine trafficking operation from their California prison cells using smuggled cellphones to direct drug trafficking activities, order murders, and manage other criminal activities inside and outside of the prisons.

At trial, the jury heard evidence that the Aryan Brotherhood elevated Troxell to a position of leadership on the gang’s three-man commission in the early 2000s when nearly all of the prominent AB members were housed in Pelican Bay state prison. In 2016, wiretaps by the Drug Enforcement Administration captured Troxell discussing gang business with another member. He explained that he viewed the gang as “blood in, blood out,” meaning you had to kill to enter the gang, and you could only leave it by being killed.

The wiretaps also caught Troxell ordering the murder of another AB member housed in Calipatria state prison. Law enforcement moved quickly to stop the plot and keep the targeted inmate from being harmed. The jury found Troxell guilty of RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to commit murder based upon the intercepted calls and testimony from other gang members.

The district court previously imposed life sentences on five other Aryan Brotherhood defendants in this case: Ronald Yandell, William Sylvester, Pat Brady, Jason Corbett, and Brant Daniel.