ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – Filthy Fuhrer, formerly Timothy Lobdell, 46; Roy Naughton, aka Thumper, 44; Glen Baldwin, aka Glen Dog, 41; Colter O’Dell, 30; and Craig King, aka Oakie, 57, were sentenced this week in Alaska to life in prison without the possibility of parole. All five defendants were convicted of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping conspiracy. Fuhrer and Naughton were also each convicted of an additional two counts of kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping, and assault in aid of racketeering.
Evidence presented at trial showed that the defendants were leaders, members, and associates of the 1488s. This violent, prison-based Neo-Nazi gang operated inside and outside of state prisons throughout Alaska. The 1488s used Nazi-derived symbols to identify themselves and their affiliation with the gang, including a 1488 “patch” tattoo that depicts an Iron Cross superimposed over a swastika. The tattoo was awarded to members who gained full membership by committing acts of violence on behalf of the gang. The gang enforced discipline through written rules and a code of conduct, including the boast that “the only currency we recognize is violence and unquestionable loyalty.”
The trial testimony established that Fuhrer founded and led the 1488 gang from inside a maximum-security prison, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for the attempted murder of an Alaska State Trooper. In addition to directing acts of violence to establish the gang’s dominance in the prison hierarchy, Fuhrer ordered gang members to commit violent kidnappings and assaults in the “free world” outside of prison. As part of a plan to impose greater organization and structure among non-incarcerated members, Fuhrer insisted on punishing members that he perceived to be defying the 1488 code of conduct thereby diminishing the power, influence, and reputation of the gang. Fuhrer sent out a trusted lieutenant with a list of directives, culminating in the kidnapping and assault of two lower-level gang members on April 2, 2017, and July 20, 2017, and the kidnapping, assault, and murder of Michael Staton on Aug. 3, 2017.
According to the trial evidence, on April 2, 2017, defendant Roy Naughton and other 1488 members, acting at the direction of Fuhrer, lured a victim to a gang meeting at Naughton’s residence. Once there, the victim was taken into a basement, held at gun point, tied up, and assaulted. As part of the assault, the gang members shattered a lightbulb in his mouth and tattooed him with a racial epithet. The victim was threatened with more violence if the incident was reported to police.
In addition, the evidence at trial demonstrated that on July 17, 2017, Fuhrer called Naughton from prison. During the call Naughton boasted about the April 2 assault and reported to Fuhrer that another member would be assaulted in the next few days. On July 20, 2017, a second victim was similarly assaulted and had his 1488 membership patch burned off.
Evidence also showed that in 2016 Naughton asked for and received permission from Fuhrer to impose exceptionally severe discipline on 1488 member Michael Staton, who held himself out as a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, for stealing from both the 1488’s and defendant Craig King. Naughton, King, and defendants Glen Baldwin and Colter O’Dell worked with other 1488 members to locate, kidnap, and murder Staton. On August 3, 2017, 1488 members, including Baldwin and O’Dell, lured Staton to Wasilla where they beat him and took him to King’s duplex. After arriving, Staton was taken to an empty room which had been lined with plastic sheeting. Inside the room King and the 1488s beat and tortured the victim, including cutting off his 1488 tattoo with a knife that had been heated with a propane torch. The defendants wrapped Staton in the plastic and carpeting, and Baldwin and O’Dell drove him to a remote section of Wasilla, where they shot him and set fire to his body. O’Dell was awarded full membership in the 1488s for his role in the murder.
