U.S. Accuses Guard of Ties to Gang

A state corrections officer was arrested Thursday on charges of helping a white supremacist prison gang distribute narcotics and attack other inmates at the California Institute for Men in Chino.

Shayne Allyn Ziska, 43, of Fontana was accused in a five-count federal grand jury indictment of taking part in a racketeering conspiracy run by the notorious Nazi Low Riders gang, aiding in the commission of two violent crimes and depriving inmates of their rights under color of authority.

Ziska was described in the indictment as a white racist ideologue who bears a Nazi tattoo, depicting double lightning bolts, on one arm.

He associated with the Nazi Low Riders’ leaders at Chino, according to the indictment, taught gang members martial arts and preached his views on race to white inmates.

Formed in the 1970s as a skinhead youth gang, the Nazi Low Riders has since extended its reach to prisons throughout the state and into Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Closely allied with the prison-based Aryan Brotherhood, experts say the gang now appears driven as much by profit motives -- from the sale of narcotics -- as by ideology.

In an interview with The Times last year, Ziska denied any involvement with the Nazi Low Riders, although he said it was impossible to work at the prison without coming into contact with members of the group.

As for allegations that he helped distribute illegal drugs, he said, “They’re crazy. They offend me. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do any of that.”

Ziska, who has worked at the prison since 1984, was relieved of guard duty in October 2000 during an inquiry by investigators from the California Department of Corrections.

The investigation was taken over several months later by the FBI, which was engaged in a major crackdown against the Nazi Low Riders. Two years ago, 12 gang members and associates, including several key leaders, were indicted for controlling white inmates in the state prison system through murder, intimidation and drug trafficking. Seven of those defendants have been convicted and five are scheduled to go on trial next year.

Ziska was accused of helping some of those defendants distribute illicit drugs and engage in violent reprisals against other inmates while he was assigned to a housing unit at the 6,500-inmate prison.

The indictment unsealed Thursday cited four separate incidents from 1998 through 2000 in which Ziska allegedly transported heroin and methamphetamine for gang members. It also accused him of ferrying a surreptitious message between inmates to confirm that a quantity of drugs had arrived.

Ziska was also accused of allowing various Nazi Low Riders to move freely between different tiers and halls at the sprawling facility, enabling them to conduct gang business without interference.

In some instances, that included violence, according to the indictment. Ziska was charged with aiding and abetting gang attacks on two inmates in 1999 and 2000. One victim was stabbed under an eye and the other was slashed across the neck. Both survived.

Ziska is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles pending arraignment Monday.

He faces a maximum of 60 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

His arrest comes at a time when the state Department of Corrections has been reeling from an assortment of scandals involving prison guards. A 150-page report last month by a federal court monitor accused the state prison guards union of enforcing a “code of silence” that has made it exceedingly difficult to investigate alleged misconduct by corrections officers.

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Times staff writer Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.