Trial of Modesto man offered look at Nazi gang, drugs and alliances

Members of the Nazi Low Riders are violent predators but short on brains, according to a prosecutor who recently won a carjacking conviction that will send a Modesto man to prison for 18 years to life.

The case of David William Hess also gives a glimpse of life behind bars, showing how offenders form race-based alliances to smuggle drugs and exert power while they do their time.

Hess was a middleman between Dion Milam, a convicted murderer who has the words "Aryan Honor" tattooed over his eyebrows, and Allen Freitas, who was convicted of murder decades ago, served his time and cooperated with authorities when the state agreed to relocate him.

The strongest evidence against Hess was his own voice. He and Milam hatched a plot against Freitas during a 40-minute jailhouse telephone call, which was recorded. That call, according to the prosecution and the defense, was the key to the case.

"Without that tape, this case never would have come to trial," said defense attorney Larry Cole.

"Violent predatory gangsters, but dumb as rocks," said Deputy District Attorney Tom Brennan.

Relationship began in jail

It all began in the fall of 2005, in a maximum security wing of Modesto's downtown jail, according to testimony at a two-week trial that ended last week.

Milam, who was awaiting trial on charges of killing a drug dealer two years earlier, was the gang's ranking member, or shot-caller. One of his subordinates sang the Nazi Low Rider anthem each night when jailers turned off the lights.

Freitas, who was suspected of killing his wife, was befriended by Milam after the gang learned that he had $25,000 in the bank from the sale of property.

Hess, who had been to prison three times for auto theft and receiving stolen property, was on the streets but taking orders from Milam.

According to authorities, the gang gave Freitas, who was addicted to methamphetamine, access to drugs.

The gang also facilitated three-way telephone calls through Hess' girlfriend Leanna Werner, who accepted collect calls from the jail, then used conferencing capabilities so Freitas could speak to his brother without his brother incurring any charges.

Investigators were keeping an eye on Milam -- and listening to his telephone calls -- because he was suspected of smuggling drugs into the jail by having subordinates spray liquid methamphetamine onto letters and children's drawings. Inmates could chew the paper to get high.

The gang also got drugs from offenders who hide substances in body cavities before they turn themselves in. A common practice, jailers call it "keistering."

After a month in custody, Freitas was released because an autopsy showed that his wife died of cancer, Brennan said.

Less than a day after his release, Freitas got a call from Werner, who was collecting money for the Nazi Low Riders. Freitas paid a couple of hundred dollars to reimburse the gang for the protection and drugs he got in jail, then he tried to duck calls from Milam, who wanted more money.

During a December 2005 telephone call, Milam told Freitas he was sending a "homeboy" to collect. Hours later, Werner showed up with Hess, who has tattoos from his ears to his feet. Swastikas. Lightning bolts. Skulls. Dragons. A picture of white powder. The phrase "peckerwood," a term that is associated with skinheads, and "pure hate." All on display.

Freitas forked over some more money.

A week later, Hess spotted Freitas in a car with Werner, felt betrayed and sucker-punched Freitas, breaking his nose.