Lufkin, Texas, Woman Sentenced to 180 Months in Prison for Involvement in Gang Murders

Lufkin, Texas, Woman Sentenced to 180 Months in Prison for Involvement in Gang Murders

 

 

WASHINGTON – A Lufkin, Texas, woman was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone to 180 months in prison for her role in a double homicide that took place in Nacogdoches, Texas, in August 2007, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John M. Bales for the Eastern District of Texas.

 

April Flanagan, 31, pleaded guilty on Nov. 29, 2010, to committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity, the object of which was a conspiracy to murder David Clyde Mitchamore Jr., and to acting as an accessory after the fact in the murder of Christy Rochelle Brown. 

 

According to information presented in court, Flanagan had close ties to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), a race-based state-wide organization that operates inside and outside of state and federal prisons located throughout the state of Texas and the United States.  The ABT enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault, robbery and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the enterprise.  Members, as well as ABT associates and prospects, are required to follow, without question, the orders of higher-ranking members.  These so-called “direct orders” typically task the ABT member or associate to “discipline” the offending individual with  physical force.

 

According to court documents, David Mitchamore, aka “Super Dave,” an ABT member, and his girlfriend, Christie Rochelle Brown, were murdered as a result of a “direct order” by ABT members because of Mitchamore’s failure to repay an outstanding debt he allegedly owed to an ABT member.   The bodies of Mitchamore and Brown were discovered in Nacogdoches County on Aug. 10, 2007.  

 

Flanagan admitted that she knew and approved of the plan to murder Mitchamore, and provided ABT members with the shotgun used to murder Mitchamore and Brown.  She also admitted that she loaned her vehicle to them for use during the commission of the murders.   

 

This case is being investigated by the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement and Coordination Center (Gang-TECC); the Nacogdoches Sheriff's Department; the Nacogdoches Police Department; the Angelina County, Texas, Sheriff's Department; the Texas Department of Public Safety; and the Texas Rangers.  The case is being prosecuted by the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Lufkin, Texas, and the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit, in full cooperation with the Nacogdoches County District Attorney’s Office.