2 Aryan Circle Gang Members Sentenced for Racketeering Convictions

The Department of Justice (DOJ) logo is pictured on a wall in New York on Dec. 5, 2013. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Two Aryan Circle gang members, including a high-ranking leader, received sentences this week for multiple crimes committed in the white supremacy prison gang.

William Glenn Chunn—one of the highest ranking Aryan Circle leaders in the United States, according to evidence presented at trial—and gang member Mitchell Farkas were sentenced this week for their roles in several violent prison stabbings, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday in a news release.

Chunn, also known as Big Head, of Conroe, Texas, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) violations stemming from his leadership in the gang. A jury in the East District of Texas convicted the 40-year-old man on Nov. 26, 2021. He was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy for an attempted murder he ordered that involved a “violent stabbing,” the release said.

In a separate jury trial on Oct. 3 in the Southern District of Mississippi, Chunn was also found guilty of a violent crime in aid of racketeering for attempted murder. He is still awaiting sentencing in that case.

The Aryan Circle is a violent gang with members across the United States.

“According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Aryan Circle is a race-based and violent prison gang with hundreds of members operating throughout the country, both inside and outside of prisons,” the DOJ said.

Members are required to obey the orders of high-ranking members without hesitation.

“Aryan Circle enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects, and associates through threats, intimidation, acts of violence including, but not limited to, acts involving assault and murder,” according to the release.

Victim Attacked for Violating Gang Rules

In another case, Farkas, aka Lifter, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in prison.

On Aug. 10, the 52-year-old man was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of Kentucky on charges of violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR) attempted murder for his role in a separate “violent prison stabbing” while serving time at the U.S. Penitentiary Big Sandy in Martin County, Kentucky.

Farkas, along with another gang member, stabbed a fellow inmate at Big Sandy who the Aryan Circle believed had violated gang rules. The stabbing victim has permanent vision loss in one eye.

Multiple agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Department of Public Safety, and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, among others, were involved in the investigations.