US jury deadlocks over Aryan Brotherhood penalty

LOS ANGELES, Sep 16 (Reuters) A US jury deadlocked over whether two Aryan Brotherhood prison gang leaders should be sentenced to death for their convictions on murder, racketeering and conspiracy charges.

The jury's failure to reach a verdict means Brotherhood chief Barry ''The Baron'' Mills, 57, and top lieutenant Tyler ''The Hulk'' Bingham, 59, will be sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge, Assistant US Attorney Steve Wolfe said.

Mills and Bingham were convicted in July, along with Brotherhood members Christopher Gibson and Edgar ''Snail'' Hevle, of carrying out a campaign of killings and violence to cement their control behind bars.

A separate penalty phase was held to determine if Mills and Bingham should face execution or life in prison. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty against Gibson and Hevle, who will likely be sentenced to life behind bars.

Mills was convicted of ordering the murders of a dozen people, six of which were were carried out. Bingham was found guilty of calling for the death of five people. Two were killed.

Prosecutors say the Aryan Brotherhood, also known as ''the Brand,'' dominated other prison gangs by being particularly ruthless, directing murders and assaults through notes written in code or with invisible ink made with fruit juice or urine.

Defence lawyers argued that their clients had banded together in self-defence amid violent racial warfare in maximum security US prisons. They said the government based its case on ''a parade of perjurers'' who cooperated in exchange for cash and leniency.

Prosecutors may ultimately seek the death penalty against more than a dozen members of the gang in a sweeping case that they say ranks among the largest death penalty prosecutions in US history.

Forty people were originally charged in the case in 2002. Since then, 19 have struck plea bargains and another has died. Trials are pending for the rest.

REUTERS PB ND1036