White supremacist gang leader burned tattoo from man’s skin, feds say. He’s prison bound
The leader of a white supremacist gang was sentenced to life in federal prison by a Texas court.
Jesse Paul Blankenship, a 39-year-old from Missouri who also goes by JP, became involved with the Aryan Circle in 2010, the Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Texas said in a news release on Thursday, Sept. 8.
For 11 years, Blankenship was a member of the violent, race-based prison gang, prosecutors said. During this time, he “put in work” and committed violence for the Aryan Circle, /according to authorities.
In March 2016, Blankenship is accused of participating in a kidnapping of another gang member at gunpoint, the indictment says. He then helped burn the man’s gang tattoo off his skin “using a metal rod heated with a blowtorch,” an indictment said.
A few months later, he broke into a house in St. Louis, Missouri, and shot at two people, according to court documents.
Afterward, Blankenship moved up the ranks to become gang leader, ordering members to commit more violence, prosecutors said.
Blankenship, along with 11 other gang members, was indicted in October 2020, court records show. He was convicted of three charges in November 2021:
Racketeering conspiracy
Kidnapping in aid of racketeering
Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in aid of racketeering
The district judge gave Blankenship a life sentence under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law that targets illegal activities of criminal organizations, on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Blankenship’s attorney did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 4:12 PM.
