Report: Federal Prosecutor Withdraws From Aryan Brotherhood Of Texas Case

Aryan Brotherhood of Texas
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An assistant U.S. attorney in Houston has withdrawn from a large federal case against alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang, the defense attorney for one of the case’s 34 defendants told The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday. 

The defense attorney, Richard O. Ely II, told the Morning News that he received an email Tuesday morning from the prosecutor, Jay Hileman, in which Hileman informed Ely that he was off the case.

Ely, a former prosecutor who described himself as a good friend of Hileman’s, told the Morning News that Hileman is likely concerned about his family after the recent killings of two prosecutors in Kaufman County, Texas.

“He’s obviously made a decision based on something,” Ely said.

Angela Dodge, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, did not confirm or deny the Hileman’s withdrawal to the Morning News. TPM’s attempts to reach Dodge were not immediately successful.

While no material evidence has been found linking the prison gang to the murdered prosecutors in Kaufman County, media reports have made note of the county district attorney’s office’s role in the investigation of Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

(Photo: Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer speaks during a news conference about charges against members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas at the U.S. Attorney’s office Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, in Houston. AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Cody Duty)

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