Inset: Jason Corbett (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation). Background: The location Corbett and another member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang killed an inmate at High Desert State Prison in California. (U.S. Attorney’s Office).
A member of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood prison gang in California will spend the rest of his life in prison after admitting to stabbing to death an inmate for lying about being a member of the gang.
Jason “Jake” Corbett, 52, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison for murder in aid of racketeering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release.
A second co-defendant in the murder, Pat “Big Pat” Brady, 54, pleaded guilty on Jan. 3, and was sentenced to life in prison last month, prosecutors said.
Three others were found guilty of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) conspiracy, conspiracy to murder, murder in aid of racketeering, and multiple counts of drug trafficking in April 2024. A sixth defendant pleaded guilty in the drug trafficking conspiracy. Charges against a seventh defendant are pending.
Pequeen was murdered on July 20, 2018, at about 2:15 p.m. in the D facility at High Desert State Prison in Susanville prison as part of a “planned, coordinated hit,” court documents said. Susanville is about 300 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Pequeen was targeted not only because of his bogus claim about being a member of the Aryan Brotherhood but because he also owed a big drug debt at a previous prison, prosecutors said. He was killed after he began talking to Brady, as seen on prison surveillance video, officials said. While Pequeen was distracted by Brady, Corbett came up from behind Pequeen, removed a prison-made weapon, and began stabbing Pequeen repeatedly in the back, court documents said.
As Pequeen tried to flee, Brady removed his weapon from his waistband. Pequeen ran. Brady and Corbett chased him down. They caught him with the help of two others. Brady then stabbed Pequeen in the upper back.
Pequeen fell to the ground. Prison guards ordered all inmates to “get down.” But Corbett and Brady continued their attack, stabbing Pequeen repeatedly in the head, neck, and torso as Pequeen — bleeding profusely from his neck and torso — tried to defend himself against his attackers, who held him down and continued stabbing him.
As corrections officers closed in on the attackers, Corbett and Brady stood up, walked away, and dropped their weapons.
Investigators noted that one of the murder weapons had “SS” lightning bolts etched into its side.
“This symbol on one of the murder weapons is meant to send a message to other inmates that Pequeen’s murder was a hit carried out by the Aryan Brotherhood because the enterprise often uses symbols from Nazi Germany to demonstrate its strength within the prison system,” court documents said.
Pequeen was declared dead at about 2:52 p.m., 37 minutes after the attack began. His body had more than 10 puncture wounds in his head, neck, and torso.
Corbett and Brady had Pequeen’s blood on their inmate clothing and shoes, which were collected and preserved as evidence of the murder. Investigators believe that the attackers killed Pequeen to maintain their position with the Aryan Brotherhood. The stylized weapon was meant to send a message to other inmates who would defy the enterprise, court documents said.
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