Two Aryan Strikeforce members set to plead guilty in federal drug case
Two members of the Pennsylvania-based Aryan Strikeforce are set to plead guilty to federal charges of conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.
But, four other members of the group are contesting the indictment and no trial date has been set for them.
The group鈥檚 founder Joshua Michael 鈥淗atchet鈥� Steever of Manville, New Jersey, and Connor Drew Dykes, 20, of Silver Springs, Maryland, are scheduled to appear in federal court on April 24.
Both face a minimum of 10 years in federal prison and at least five years of supervised release after getting out.
The plea agreements do not cover any potential tax evasion charges stemming from the drug and gun running scheme outlined in the indictment.
The initial charges outlined a multi-state conspiracy to buy and sell guns and sell drugs to fund the activities of the Aryan Strikeforce.
Prosecutors allege that the group got and stored firearms in homes in Pottery County and Allentown, Pennsylvania, and in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
Among the weapons cited by prosecutors in the case were several 9 mm pistols and a Western Auto 12-gauge shotgun.
Prosecutors said the group laundered the drug proceeds by taking the cash and buying pre-paid Visa gift cards at a variety of stores.
The FBI and state law enforcement agencies, using undercover informants, determined that Aryan Strikeforce traveled to Potter County in north-central Pennsylvania, which was owned by the organization's then-president Ronald Pulcher, for weapons training and other things.
At one of those gatherings, according to cooperating witnesses, a plan was discussed to conceal a bomb inside the oxygen bottle of a strikeforce member who was terminally ill and willing to blow himself up, court document state.
The bomb was to be detonated to kill protestors at a white nationalist rally in Harrisburg, prosecutors said.
As part of the indictment, prosecutors are seeking to seize 50 Colt M4 5.56 mm carbines.
The other four Aryan Strikeforce members 鈥斅燡ustin Daniel 鈥淩ocko鈥� Lough, of Waynesboro, Virginia, Henry Lambert Baird of Brown Mills, New Jersey, Jacob Mark 鈥淏oots鈥� Robards of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Stephen Davis of Bumpass, Virginia 鈥斅燼re either challenging the validity of the indictment or awaiting trial.聽聽聽聽
The six, all of whom are detained, are accused of being members of the Aryan Strikeforce and the Eastern Service Unit of Combat 18.
