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68 members of alleged SFV white supremacist gang indicted
San Fernando Valley Oct 02, 2024
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada was joined by law enforcement during a press conference Wednesday. | Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California
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Federal and local law enforcement have arrested 42 members and associates of the SFV Peckerwoods, a San Fernando Valley-based white supremacist street gang, on a 76-count federal grand jury indictment alleging they engaged in a years-long pattern of racketeering activity that included trafficking of drugs – including fentanyl – illegal firearms possession, and COVID-19 benefits and loan fraud, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The indictment unsealed Wednesday charges a total of 68 defendants with a score of federal crimes: conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices.
The 29 defendants arrested Wednesday were expected to be arraigned in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Prior to Wednesday’s takedown, 13 defendants were already in custody.
During the investigation, law enforcement seized large quantities of illegal firearms, and dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, according to the indictment.
“The Peckerwoods’ violent white-supremacist ideology and wide-ranging criminal activity pose a grave menace to our community,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “By allegedly engaging in everything from drug-trafficking to firearms offenses to identity theft to COVID fraud, and through their alliance with a neo-Nazi prison gang, the Peckerwoods are a destructive force.”
The operation was led by the FBI Los Angeles Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“The San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, the Aryan Brotherhood and their associates are fused by one thing: hatred,” said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge, DEA Los Angeles Field Division. “It appears, however, that the business of hate was not enough for them. Driven by greed, they engaged in other crimes, including drug distribution, pushing out deadly fentanyl onto our streets. Operating from corners of the San Fernando Valley, they conducted their crimes within and beyond the 8-1-8 community.”
According to the indictment that a grand jury returned on Sept. 26, the Peckerwoods is a street gang based in communities in the San Fernando Valley whose members engage in a wide variety of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, violent crime, and fraud. As a white supremacist gang, the Peckerwoods at times takes orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California’s dominant prison-based white supremacist gang, and maintains an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, which controls most Latino street gangs in California. The Peckerwoods use Nazi tattoos, graffiti, and iconography to indicate their violent white supremacy extremist ideology. These tattoos and iconography include swastikas, the symbol “88”, used by violent white supremacy extremists as code for “Heil Hitler,” and images of Nazi aircraft.
Members and associates of the gang used social media to share information with each other about their criminal activities and gang rules, to identify gang members in good standing, and to target people who broke the gang’s rules. The social media use included a members-only Facebook group and private, direct messages between the gang’s members and associates.
From at least December 2016 to September 2024, Peckerwoods members conducted and participated in the affairs of their criminal enterprise by engaging in violence and threats of violence to preserve and expand the gang’s criminal operations, which promoted a climate of fear. Members and associates of the gang illegally maintained firearms and ammunition in furtherance of these aims.
To generate revenue for the gang, its members trafficked narcotics, including fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. Specifically, lead defendant Claire Patricia Haviland, 62, of Chatsworth, and co-defendants Brian Glenn Ekelund, 53, of Chatsworth, and Brianne Brewer, 38, of North Hollywood, maintained and oversaw drug stash houses where large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and other drugs were stored prior to distribution. Haviland and Ekelund allegedly mailed illegal drugs to customers and used applications such as Zelle and CashApp to receive money from drug buyers and send money to their drug sources.
They also generated revenue via robberies and financial fraud and participated in identity theft schemes. For example, from at least March 2021 to July 2023, defendants Sean Craig Gluckman, 35, of Encino, Maria Anna James, 30, of Canyon Country, and others submitted false and fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was designed to aid businesses harmed by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The defendants – posing as sole proprietors – signed fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of individuals incarcerated in California state prisons and collected a portion of the fraudulently obtained proceeds from co-conspirators as payment for their assistance.
Gluckman in April 2021 submitted an application that falsely stated he was a self-employed “artist/writer” with a gross income of nearly $250,000. Later that month, he obtained a PPP loan in the amount of $20,833. In a separate scheme, Gluckman submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) applications in the names of other people to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) to fraudulently obtain jobless benefits.
“The proliferation of gang related organized crime deteriorates the core of our society,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi. “Taking guns out of the hands of gang members and drugs from our streets is just one more step towards reducing this deterioration. Today is yet another example of how local, regional, and federal law enforcement, with a matched dedication, are working together to investigate, apprehend and prosecute criminals.”
