Alaska white supremacist gang members face federal charges

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Filthy Fuhrer and five other members of a white supremacist gang that was spawned in prisons in Alaska, Arizona and Colorado have been charged in the gruesome beating death of a member whose Nazi tattoo was burned off his rib cage with a hot knife.

Fuhrer, who legally changed his name from Timothy Lobdell, and the others sporting tattoos like iron crosses, swastikas or Schultzstaffel (SS) lightning bolt tattoos also face federal racketeering charges of kidnapping and assault in the August 2017 beating death of Michael Staton, who went by the gang nickname Steak Knife. Court documents did not list attorneys for the men charged.

Two others, Nicholas Kozorra and Dustin Clowers, have previously pleaded guilty to murder charges in Staton's death. Those plea agreements were recently unsealed.

Bryan Schroder, the U.S. attorney in Alaska, said at a news conference in Anchorage on Wednesday that 14 other members of the 1488 prison gang or its associates have been charged or already sentenced in the federal investigation for offenses like being a felon in possession of a firearm, mail theft or distributing drugs or firearms.

The gang got its start in 2010 among 50 to 100 prisoners either serving time in Alaska facilities or those shipped out-of-state to serve their sentences in Arizona or Colorado. Once members are paroled from prison, they are to report to leaders in what they call "Free Alaska."

"Recently, the 1488s structure and influence expanded to rural and suburban areas throughout Alaska," the court documents say.

"If you see those kind of severe tattoos on people in your neighborhood, then maybe you want to let local law enforcement know, because there might be something going on," Schroder said.

The name of the gang, 1488, refers to...