LITTLE ROCK -- Four defendants, all from Russellville, who were indicted in a wide-ranging racketeering and drug conspiracy case that resulted in indictments of 55 people, most from Pope County, were sentenced Wednesday in federal court to prison terms ranging from three years to 27 years in prison.
The case, dubbed Operation "To the Dirt," implicated members and associates of the New Aryan Empire, a white supremacist gang that got its start in the 1990s as a jailhouse gang that migrated into the state prison system and later out into the free world as members were released from jail and prison and went back to their communities.
Adam "Pork Chop" Mitchell, 36, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on four charges stemming from a 2017 kidnapping of two people.
He pleaded guilty Oct. 29, 2020, to four counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR), including two counts of kidnapping, one count of maiming, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the kidnapping of an Atkins man and Dardanelle woman who were suspected of providing law enforcement with information implicating Kevin Long, 26, of Russellville, a fellow New Aryan Empire member indicted in the racketeering case, who was suspected of involvement in a shooting.
For his role in the conspiracy, Mitchell was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian Miller to 27 years in prison and five years supervised release and ordered to pay a $400 special assessment, $100 for each count against him.
Shannon Ferguson, also known as Shannon Spencer and Shannon Pridmore, 44, pleaded guilty Nov. 20, 2020, to one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, four counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering including three counts of kidnapping and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The VICAR counts stemmed from the same kidnapping in which the two people suspected of talking to police regarding Long were kidnapped and taken to a clubhouse owned by the New Aryan Empire where they were beaten with bats, kicked, punched and stabbed. The Atkins man was disfigured when one of the gang members held a hot knife against his face.
Ferguson was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years supervised release and ordered to pay a $600 special assessment for the six counts against her.
Mitchell and Ferguson, both of whom where in federal custody, were ordered remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following their sentencings.
Also Wednesday, Melissa "Mel" Kizer, 43, and Brittany Ferguson, 30, were each sentenced to three years in prison and five years supervised release and a $100 special assessment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Kizer pleaded guilty to the charge on July 10, 2020, and Ferguson pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2020. Both women were allowed to self-report to federal prison, Kizer on Nov. 28 by noon and Ferguson on Jan. 3, 2023, by noon.
To date, 44 defendants have been sentenced in the case and 10 remain to be sentenced. One defendant, Troy "Tricky" Loadholdt, has been missing since 2017 and has been declared a fugitive by the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock.