A member of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is going to prison after pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy counts relating to the gang's criminal activities.
A Justice Department statement says a federal judge in Houston sentenced James Marshall "Dirty" Meldrum of Dallas on Thursday to 12½ years in prison. He could have been sentenced to up to life in prison for his Jan. 31 guilty plea.
Court documents state he and other gang members and associates agreed to commit multiple acts of murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping and narcotics trafficking on the gang's behalf.
The Aryan Brotherhood formed within the Texas prison system in the early 1980s. Meldrum was among 34 defendants charged in October 2012 with racketeering activity through the Aryan Brotherhood.
