Aryan Brotherhood Member Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For 2009 Shooting
By Jim Kouri
A neo-Nazi, white supremacist will spend the next two decades in a federal prison for his part in the shooting of a male victim in Jefferson County, Texas thanks to a jury’s guilty verdict, according to a Justice Department report.
Joshua Mark Bodine, aka “Desperado,” of Vidor, Texas — a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) — was sentenced on Tuesday to 20 years in prison for his role in the shooting of a man in 2009.
The 32-year neo-Nazi also was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Marcia A. Crone to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Co-defendant John Oliver Manning, 52, aka “Fish,” of Pasadena, Texas, was convicted on December 1, 2011, of racketeering and firearms charges. Bodine has been in custody since his arrest on Feb. 24, 2011, and Manning has been in custody since his arrest on September, 9, 2009. No sentencing date has been set for Manning thus far.
According to the indictment, the ABT is a race-based, state-wide organization that operates inside and outside of state and federal prisons throughout the United States. The ABT was established in the early 1980s within the Texas prison system. It modeled itself after and adopted many of the teachings and writings of the Aryan Brotherhood, a California-based prison gang that was formed in the California prison system during the 1960s.
According to the indictment, the ABT was primarily concerned with the protection of white inmates and white supremacy/separatism. Over time, the ABT expanded its criminal enterprise to include illegal activities for profit.
The evidence presented at Manning’s trial also showed that the ABT enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault, robbery and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the enterprise. Members, and oftentimes associates, are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, according to an official with the Texas Department of Corrections who requested anonymity.
The evidence at trial revealed that on September 7, 2009, Manning shot and wounded ABT associate Matthew Fails in Nederland, Texas, on the orders of Bodine. Specifically, Manning approached Fails with a firearm and a pair of handcuffs in an attempt to collect a debt on Bodine’s behalf and ultimately shot Fails. Fails was declared brain-dead, but later regained consciousness after emergency surgery.
A surgeon testified that the wound Fails received caused “agonizing pain” and that Fails “would not ever be the same.”
