Dozens of suspected members of the San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, a Los Angeles-area White supremacist gang linked to the Aryan Brotherhood, were arrested and indicted Wednesday in a federal investigation charging them with drug and weapons trafficking and committing fraud.
A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday charges 68 members with racketeering activity that included drug trafficking – including fentanyl – illegal firearm possession, and COVID-19 benefits and loan fraud.
Federal prosecutors described the SFV Peckerwoods as a violent street gang that occasionally takes orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California’s dominant prison-based White supremacist gang.
Members are known to use Nazi tattoos, graffiti and other iconography to affirm their ideology.
Federal prosecutors allege Peckerwoods members have for nearly a decade used violence and the threat of violence to preserve and expand the gang’s criminal operations and promote a climate of fear.
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To generate revenue, members trafficked fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine to generate revenue.
The indictment names lead defendant Claire Patricia Haviland, 62, of Chatsworth, California, and co-defendants Brian Glenn Ekelund, 53, of Chatsworth, and Brianne Brewer, 38, of North Hollywood, California.
The indictment alleges these individuals maintained and oversaw drug stash houses where illegal narcotics were stored before distribution. Haviland and Ekelund allegedly mailed the drugs to customers and used applications such as Zelle and CashApp to send and receive money.
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Members also generated revenue via robberies and financial fraud, including by participating in identity theft schemes. In one such scheme, some members submitted phony applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, which was designed to help struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department had dealt a "decisive blow to the San Fernando Valley (SFV) Peckerwoods."
"With today’s charges and arrests, the Justice Department, together with our state, local, and federal partners has targeted the heart of this gang’s operations, and we will continue to zero in on the criminal enterprises that endanger our communities," Garland said in a statement.
The members and associates arrested Wednesday were expected to be arraigned in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Each faces up to life in prison if convicted.
