For Immediate Release
July 10, 2007 |
Contact: Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486 |
TWO WHITE SUPREMACIST GANG MEMBERS
CONVICTED OF CONSPIRING AND EXECUTING FELLOW GANG MEMBER FOR APPEARING ON TV
*Also found guilty of attempting to murder a police officer
SANTA ANA – Two white supremacist gang members were convicted today of murdering a fellow gang member by shooting him in an Anaheim alley for divulging gang secrets on television. Michael Allen Lamb, 32, and Jacob Anthony Rump, 30, were found guilty by the jury of murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, committing murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, two counts of possession of a firearm by a violent felon, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a firearm as an active gang member, two counts of street terrorism, and the attempted murder of a peace officer. The jury also found true the special circumstance of murder committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang and sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity, the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and vicarious discharge of a firearm causing death as a gang member.
Rump now faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole and is scheduled to be sentenced August 31, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-40, Central Justice Center, in Santa Ana. The District Attorney is seeking the death penalty on Lamb, who will begin a penalty phase tomorrow, July 11, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. in Department C-40.
In February of 2001, Fox 11 News broadcast a piece about a violent white supremacist criminal street gang, in particular focusing on a pending case against known leaders of the gang who were on trial for conspiracy to commit murder. Scott Miller, a founding member of the gang, was featured in that piece, which offended fellow gang members because he was airing what they considered “dirty laundry.” While Miller’s voice and face were disguised, his tattoos were visible and made it possible for fellow gang members to identify him.
On March 8, 2002, Miller was at a party in Costa Mesa. He left the party, expecting to return later, and was driven to an apartment complex in Anaheim. Lamb and Rump were waiting for Miller in an alley near the apartment and executed him by shooting him in the back of the head at close range with a 9mm firearm.
On March 11, 2002, Lamb and Rump became involved in a police car chase in Anaheim. They tried to flee from police and jumped from the moving vehicle, and ran off into an apartment complex. As the officers attempted to close in on them, the defendants fired a shot at police officers. Lamb and Rump surrendered after the gun they were firing jammed. The gun used to shoot at the officers was the same 9mm that was used to murder Miller three days earlier.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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