Aryan Prisoner Given 4 More Years for Threats

DALLAS (CN) - An Aryan prison inmate whose threats against federal judges coincided with murders of prosecutors had four years added to his sentence Friday.

The first letter came two months after masked gunmen murdered Mark Hasse, an assistant district attorney for Kaufman County, Texas, on Jan. 31, 2013, in a parking lot near the county courthouse.

Hasse had been "heavily involved" in investigating the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, "authorities with knowledge of the assistant DA's caseload" said at the time.

Hours after Hasse was murdered, two members of the group pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges, in a case that Kaufman County prosecutors helped investigate, federal prosecutors announced at the time.

Jesse "Bozo" Brister, of Conroe, Texas, had just been imprisoned in March 2013 at the Telford Unit in New Boston when he wrote about ABT to U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana in the Earle Cabell Federal Building in Dallas.

"Proudly, I am writing this letter to this Federal Building and ... but I am intending it to ... the Federal Department point blank," the letter stated. "Our demands are simple; you have apprehended members of our family; Big Terry, Jive, Baby Huey, and others in our Dallas/Ft. Worth region ... If your federal government does not drop the current charges on these ABT members my circle/family will start with DA's not involved in these cases ... We have a list of names Judges included."

At the time of the letter's mailing, racketeering charges were pending in Houston Federal Court against the group, its leaders and "soldiers."

Approximately 10 days after Brister wrote his letter, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland - Hasse's boss - and his wife were gunned down in their home in what appeared to be a well-orchestrated assassination.

Eric Williams, a former Kaufman County justice of the peace, and his wife were later charged with the killngs. Both McLelland and Hasse had prosecuted 46-year-old Williams a year earlier regarding the theft of computer equipment.

Prosecutors say Brister wrote a second letter, dated March 28, asking federal officials to make a "peace treaty" with the group, or else.

"[T]rust me[,] its not fun having to search the DA's, U.S. Attorneys, Judges, and so on and so forth vehicles everyday for bombs," the second letter said.

Brister later admitted to writing the letters and initially claimed involvement of the ABT in the murders of Hasse and McLelland murders. He ultimately denied involvement, federal prosecutors say.

He pleaded guilty in September to one count of mailing threatening communications. He identified himself as a "proud" member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas and is listed by state prison officials as a member of the group, federal prosecutors said Friday.

With Brister still in prison on an unrelated case, Chief U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater sentenced the 28-year-olf to 55 months for the threats on Friday.

Follow @davejourno

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