Member of Aryan Brotherhood Sentenced to 150 Months in Prison on Racketeering Charges

ALBUQUERQUE—Earlier today in federal court in Albuquerque, Benjamin Raymond, 34, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, was sentenced to 150 months of imprisonment for committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering. The two-count second superseding indictment charged Raymond with committing two violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity: (1) conspiracy to commit murder, and (2) attempted murder.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that the charges stemmed from the attempted murder of John Mudersbach on September 17, 2002, in Valencia County, New Mexico. Raymond, who pled guilty to the indictment on December 23, 2010, admitted that he conspired to murder Mudersbach to gain entrance to and maintain and increase his position in the Aryan Brotherhood in New Mexico. Raymond also admitted that he ordered another Aryan Brotherhood member to kill Mudersbach to prevent Mudersbach from talking to law enforcement about a 2002 Aryan Brotherhood related murder.

Raymond is currently serving a 15-year federal sentence based on a 2003 conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. As part of Raymond’s agreement with the government, his 150-month sentence in this case will be served after Raymond completes his current 15-year sentence.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Las Cruces, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the New Mexico Department of Corrections, and the Rio Rancho Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Randy M. Castellano and Teresa Lynn Raymond.