Before being released from the jail after 40+ years of confinement The former leader of the American Brotherhood Michael Lynn Thompson promised the parole board that he would dedicate his entire life to charitable causes through his self-help program known as Live, Learn & Prosper.
However, according to the authorities of Lake County, Thompson found wealth through something entirely different that waMichael Thompson ab :Ex-Aryan Brotherhood leader charged with massive California a huge fraud scheme that made millions via fraudulent commercial loans as well as Employment Development Department applications. Thompson is now Thompson is in jail and another defendant of 45 years old, and is charged with the possibility of a criminal charge of 33 counts according to according to the Sacramento Bee reported.
Thompson who will turn 70 this October may be the most well-known former Aryan Brotherhood member. He began his membership in the 1970s and left in the early 1980s. Thompson not only gave rare interviews on this notoriously secretive prison group and also admitted to a trial against its members, claiming himself as an expert in gangs. He claimed to boast about the exclusive benefits this status earned him as well as the fact that he was served by authorities the whole turkey, along with knives to cut it in the Los Angeles County Jail.
He was featured in two of the early 2000s documentaries about the Aryan Brotherhood. In both documentaries, he claimed he quit the gang and started cooperating with the authorities in protest over the fact that the other leaders of the gang permitted the Aryan Brotherhood member known as Curtis Price to murder the father of a former member. After he was granted parole in 2019 , after over a dozen rejections, he declared that his time of criminality was over. He also stated that he had made a vow of non-violence which would be in effect for the remainder of his life.
When he was questioned about his parole application, Thompson denied the Orange County District Attorney’s assertion that he had a key part in the double murder which led to his imprisonment He claimed that the only thing he did was inform another defendant that the perpetrators were plotting against him.
The case is now in the hands of Thompson. Thompson is not accused of murder, but rather of criminal acts that exploit white collars that include swindling the homeless out of their unemployment and registering with a fake Southern California firefighting company for $1.5 million in business loans. The complaint states that Thompson along with his co-defendants whom he allegedly was in prison with, convinced 16 individuals to sign up their personal data to support the scheme.
“Basically, the story was, ‘Oh, well, we’re going to apply for unemployment for you, we’ll take a fee and we’ll give you the rest,'” Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones said to The Sacramento Bee. “And in most of these cases they never got any of the unemployment.”
Authorities are Lake County are fighting to keep Thompson imprisoned and he’s being kept without bail in connection with parole violations, which is in addition to the 33-count charge — attorneys from The California attorney general’s office have been trying to salvage the conviction of a double murder in 1986 while acknowledging that one its most important suspects, Thompson, is not to be relied upon.
The case involves Curtis Floyd Price, who was said to be directed by the racist white group to shoot Richard Barnes, a Los Angeles resident who’s son, Steven Barnes, had dropped out of the gang, and was willing to be a witness against the gang’s members. Thompson claims he was the sole high-ranking member who voted against the movie of the same name and it created a bad taste in his mouth. Thompson resigned from the group shortly after and gave evidence against Price which was later sentenced to execution for the murder of Barnes and the woman who was known as Elizabeth Hickey.
Price has been fighting his death sentence and conviction for over 30 years. According to court documents, Thompson described Thompson as a lying exaggerator, whose “multiple hearsay” claims about Hickey’s death should never have been made available to jurors. In defense, state prosecutors barely did anything to defend Thompson against the accusations and pointed out that he had was a witness to avoid possible racketeering charges , and in hope that he could be “pleasing parole authorities” down the road.
“In sum, no rational juror could have convicted anyone of anything solely on the word of the admitted perjurer and schemer Thompson,” the prosecutor stated.
