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Posted: October 28, 2003
On October 23, 2003, Jerry Michael Walters, a member of the violent white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, was sentenced by a U.S. District Judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, to serve 33 years in federal prison for his role in murdering a man on Padre Island National Seashore in Texas earlier this year.
According to court records, Walters and three other men assaulted Joe Urdiales at an apartment store on April 3, 2003. They were then joined by a fifth man on their way to the seashore, where they stabbed Urdiales and forced sand down his throat. His body was found six days later by park rangers.
Urdiales, described by authorities as a member of the Texas Syndicate, a Hispanic prison gang, was targeted for allegedly deceiving the Aryan Brotherhood. According to two criminal complaints, Urdiales failed to make good on his promise to pay bond for two members of the Aryan Brotherhood, who were arrested in Vermont while transporting marijuana for him. Although the Aryan Brotherhood has white supremacist beliefs, the group has a history of alliances and dealings with non-white prison gangs when it comes to illegal drugs.
Walters, 35, also known as "Iron Man," and the other assailants (Aaron Kelly, Abelardo Godoy IV, Juan Daniel Cardenas and Michael Ronje) pled guilty to the murder in July. According to the indictment, they are all members of the Aryan Brotherhood, except for Cardenas, who is a member of the Mexican Mafia, a gang allied with the Aryan Brotherhood.
The Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, founded in the mid 1960s in California, has built its reputation on violence and intimidation. The gang is involved in drug trafficking, extortion, gambling and protection rackets in federal and state prisons across the country.
Kelly and Ronje were sentenced to 19 years in federal prison without parole. Cardenas will serve 17 years and Godoy will serve seven. Walters, as leader of the group, received the longest sentence.
The case was heard in federal court because Padre Island National Seashore is federally owned land.
For more information about the Aryan Brotherhood, see Dangerous Convictions: an Introduction to Extremist Activities in Prisons.
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