Seven members of the gang have been charged with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Conspiracy, a charge used for crimes committed as part of an organized criminal enterprise rather than as individual acts.
“The 1488s are a violent, prison-based gang operating inside and outside of state prisons throughout Alaska and elsewhere,” said the DOJ. “As part of their operations, 1488s members and associates engaged in illegal activities under the protection of the enterprise, including narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, and other illegal activities to promote the influence of the gang.”
The investigation began after the 2017 kidnapping and murder of a man named Michael Stanton, also known as “Steak Knife.”
Stanton was picked up by five members of the gang, allegedly on the orders of the gang's leadership, including a man known as Filthy Fuhrer.
“In or about 2016, Fuhrer allegedly became more aggressive in his efforts to impose discipline within the gang, ” said the DOJ. “He allegedly believed that members who were defying the 1488 code of conduct were diminishing the power and influence of the gang.”
Stanton was kidnapped, beaten and murdered.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the numbers 14 and 88 are common code used by white supremacists to identify themselves. The number 8 corresponds to H, the eighth letter in the English alphabet, and 88 represents the initials of the Nazi salute Heil Hitler. The number 14 stands for the 14 words of the White Supremacist slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."
“Together, the numbers form a general endorsement of white supremacy and its beliefs. As such, they are ubiquitous within the white supremacist movement - as graffiti, in graphics and tattoos,” said an ADL primer on the symbols.
Along with RICO conspiracy, Fuhrer and several of the other defendants were also charged with murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, assault in aid of racketeering, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit assault and kidnapping in aid of racketeering.
