This is the second part of a two-part article involving the racist prison group known as the Aryan Warriors.

The Aryan Warriors, a white supremacist gang that operates both inside and outside the Nevada prison system, took a hit to its operations last week when 14 of its members were federally indicted and charged with being members of a racketeering influenced and corrupt organization, also known as a RICO charge.

One of the members indicted, Michael "Big Mike" Yost, was from Pahrump.

Yost was arrested here last Thursday, along with three other members who were arrested the same day in Las Vegas. The remaining 10 members are incarcerated within the Nevada prison system.

The indictment came only after several years of investigative work by local, state, and federal agencies, including the FBI, the state's Departments of Corrections and Department of Investigation, as well as the Nye County Sheriff's Office's SCORPION Narcotics Task Force and members of the Street Crime Unit.

The Aryan Warriors, like many gangs, present a unique challenge to law enforcement officials because of their ability to operate, accrue revenue, and maintain organization and infrastructure even from inside prison walls.

According to a variety of reports, the gang, made up exclusively of white males, offers protection to white inmates provided they agree to join the gang's criminal enterprise, a complex network with an established hierarchy.

According to their written manifesto, their overarching goal is to spread the message of white supremacy in Nevada communities such as Reno, Henderson, Las Vegas and Pahrump, as well as "to seek out resources from drugs, tattooing, stores, etc. that can provide for the needs of our members and other Whites."

Within the Nevada prison system, members control other prisoners through extortion and violence, including murder and attempted murder.

For example, of the 14 members recently indicted, several are charged with conspiring to kill fellow inmate Jacob Armstrong with a knife in August 2001. Armstrong died, but his was only one among three other violent assaults planned against other inmates during the next six years.

In addition, the Aryan Warriors extort other prisoners by threatening violence if they do not turn over money or commissary items to members, often extending the extortion to "victim-inmates'" families.

Another way the gang makes money is through illegal gambling activities within prisons, including sports betting and various casino games using money or commissary items for stakes.

Much of this activity takes place with the assistance of corrupted, bribed or extorted prison guards.

Not only do corrupt guards look the other way during illegal gambling, but gang members are also encouraged to use bribed guards to get administrative jobs within the prison system allowing them access to other inmates' paperwork.

The gang members use this information to identify future or potential victim-inmates, which include child molesters, prison informants and homosexuals.

But a main source of revenue for the Aryan Warriors is the drug trade, and this is primarily where the gang's control leaks into local communities.

Aryan Warriors rely heavily on what they refer to as their "street program," or members who have been released and continue to raise funds for the gang through illicit activity.

Members who have been released from prison (the gang recruits new inmates and initiates them by directing them to be violent against other inmates, known as "blood work") continue working for the gang after they are released.

The released inmate will make or distribute drugs, usually methamphetamine, and sell the drugs in the community.

To smuggle drugs back inside the prison system, where they are sold or used for extortion, the liberated gang member gives the drugs to women or corrupt prison guards.

Also while on the outside, gang members are known to engage in identify theft or fraud not only to steal money but also to hide other members' identities.

Money gained from the illicit activity is distributed to various members in accordance to rank, which follows a specific, written hierarchy. Each rank is allegedly identified by tattoos.

The top echelon is called the Group or Counsel of Horn Holders, followed by individual horn holders that control prison yards.

Horn holders allocate money and designate future victims for assaults and attacks.

Next are lieutenant commanders, followed by bolt holders, sergeant at arms members, and at the bottom rung are the potential members, called prospects.

In order to rise through the ranks, the gang member must commit violent acts at the horn holders' discretion and prove he can make money for the gang.

Finally, there are "associates," or people who work for and are affiliated with the Aryan Warriors but not full members. If an associate fails to work for the gang, however, he can be subject to violence or murder.

Yost was identified in the federal indictment as a "soldier and prospect" of the Aryan Warriors.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada Steven W. Myhre, in a prepared press release, summed up the threat that the Aryan Warriors and other gangs like it pose not only to Nevada communities, but the prison system itself.

"Racist gangs in our prisons use corruption and violence to undermine the safety of both prison staff as well as the inmates who refuse to become inovolved in hate groups," Myhre wrote.

Seven of the indicted inmates pleaded not guilty to the racketeering charges on July 13.