Members of a Nazi prison gang in Alaska face the prospect of life behind bars after being convicted of brutally murdering one of their own members.

On Monday, the Department of Justice and the FBI announced that five members of the 1488 prison gang, a Nazi group based in Alaska’s penal system, were involved in the murder of gang member Michael Staton in 2017. According to authorities, Staton was kidnapped, tortured and shot before his body was burned in the woods outside of Anchorage.

"Violent gangs, especially those based upon racial hatred, are a plague to our society," U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska said Monday in a statement. "As this case demonstrates, the crimes of organized prison gangs often go beyond the prison walls bringing violence into our communities."

The 1488 gang, sometimes called Organization 1488 or the 1488s, is a racist prison gang with roots in Alaska and a small presence in Colorado, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Their name is derived from a 14-word white supremacist creed combined with the 88 symbol that stands for "Heil Hitler." The ADL says that members of the gang are also known for their signature tattoo of a Nazi German Iron Cross that encompasses other Nazi symbols like the swastika and the double lightning bolts of the Waffen SS.

The case began after a directive from the 1488’s leader, a man named Timothy Lobdell, who legally changed his name to Filthy Fuhrer. Lobdell, who is serving a 19-year sentence for attempting to kill an Alaska State Trooper, was working to impose greater organization over his members outside prison but he believed some gang members were violating the group's own code of conduct.

Staton, who was a low-level gang member at the time, was kidnapped on Filthy Fuhrer’s orders by 1488 gang members working with Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member Craig King.

He was then taken to King’s apartment in Wasilla, a smaller town outside Anchorage, which was prepared with painter’s plastic on its walls and floor. Staton was then physically tortured, an ordeal that included slicing off his 1488 member tattoo on his ribcage with a propane-heated knife. Later, Staton was taken to the woods to be shot and burned.

The crew escaped justice for five years before the FBI cracked down on the gang together with Alaskan law enforcement. Antony Jung, the FBI's Special Agent in Charge in Anchorage, said the "inhumanity" surrounding Staton's torture and killing provided further justification for a wider effort to dismantle the crew.

"The morally despicable extremist prison gang has been seriously undermined thanks to the robust and effective, coordinated law enforcement and prosecution efforts shown throughout this case," said Jung. "These convictions will certainly make our community a safer place.”

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