Alleged Aryan Brotherhood member pleads guilty to prison murder with RICO trial weeks away
Jason Corbett admitted to taking part in the murder of Donald Pequeen, who was stabbed to death for falsely claiming Aryan Brotherhood membership at High Desert State Prison.
SACRAMENTO — Yet another California prisoner has pleaded guilty to carrying out a murder that prosecutors say was done to benefit the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang.
This time, 51-year-old Jason Keif Corbett became the third man since December to accept a conviction of murder in aid of racketeering. Corbett was one of two dozen alleged Aryan Brotherhood members and associates to be charged in 2019 with a range of crimes that included drug trafficking, contraband smuggling and murder.
As part of his agreement, Corbett admitted to participating in the July 2018 fatal stabbing of Donald “Joker” Pequeen, who prosecutors say was killed for pretending to be an Aryan Brotherhood member. Corbett and co-defendant Patrick “Big Pat” Brady used homemade knives to stab Pequeen on a yard at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.
Brady pleaded guilty earlier this month, and a third co-defendant, Brant “Two Scoops” Daniel, pleaded guilty in December to an unrelated murder at Salinas Valley State Prison. All three men were slated to go on trial in late February.
Three remaining co-defendants, William Sylvester, Danny Troxell and Ronald Yandell, are still scheduled for a racketeering trial that is expected to last months. In the meantime, they’ve filed a series of motions still under consideration to dismiss the case or to sever themselves from their co-defendants.
Like Brady and Daniel, Corbett’s plea agreement makes it clear he will receive a mandatory life sentence in federal prison. His plea agreement doesn’t mention Brady by name.