An associate of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang was convicted of fatally shooting two men in Lomita, California, on orders from an incarcerated Aryan Brotherhood member, the Justice Department announced.
Justin Gray, 40, of San Pedro, California, was found guilty of two counts of murder in aid of racketeering for the Oct. 4, 2020, killings. Prosecutors said the killings were carried out at the direction of Aryan Brotherhood member Francis Clement, who was serving a sentence at Kern Valley State Prison in Kern County. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Gray lured the two victims from San Diego to Lomita, where he and another Aryan Brotherhood associate shot both men in the head. The order stemmed from what prosecutors described as “disrespect” one victim had shown the gang.
Gray is a member of the Baby Blue Wrecking Crew, which the department described as a white-only gang that takes orders from and works under the Aryan Brotherhood. He faces a mandatory life sentence and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 23 by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston of the Eastern District of California.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said the verdict “reflects the serious problem gang violence represents, even from people doing lengthy prison sentences.” Duva added that “Clement, who ordered these executions and has been sentenced to life, and now Gray, who carried them out, will pay a severe price for taking life.”
ATF Director Rob Cekada said the case showed that criminal organizations “can direct violence from behind prison walls,” while U.S. Attorney Eric Grant for the Eastern District of California said Gray “executed two men at point-blank range because an incarcerated gang member ordered it.”
The convictions were part of a broader investigation in which Gray and 20 other defendants were charged with offenses including RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering and narcotics crimes related to Aryan Brotherhood activity.
Other defendants convicted at trial on Feb. 18, 2025, included John Stinson, 72, on a racketeering conspiracy count; Clement, 60, on the conspiracy charge and five counts of murder in aid of racketeering, including the killings of three additional people he was found to have ordered murdered; and Kenneth Johnson, 65, on the conspiracy charge and two murder counts involving the same Lomita victims.
Five other defendants — Jayson Weaver, 49; Waylon Pitchford, 48; Andrew Collins, 42; Alexander Van Beusekom, 41; and Evan Perkins, 41 — are scheduled for trial in September 2027.
The case was investigated by the ATF with assistance from numerous federal, state and local agencies. It is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times' AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times' original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.