A Russellville woman -- one of 54 people accused of being part of a violent Russellville-based drug-trafficking ring that includes several white supremacists -- was ordered Tuesday to remain in custody until charges accusing her of selling methamphetamine and participating in two kidnappings are resolved.
Shannon Ferguson, who is also known as Shannon Pridmore and Shannon Spencer, has been in custody since Nov. 28, two days after she was mistakenly released from the Arkansas Department of Correction despite a federal hold stemming from her indictment in October 2017 in a methamphetamine-trafficking investigation. She had been in prison since May 2018 on a charge of tampering with physical evidence, and was supposed to be retained in the federal case upon her release.
The indictment was superseded earlier this month with the addition of 10 new defendants and various upgraded charges, including racketeering and associated crimes of attempted murder, kidnapping and maiming.
Ferguson, 41, is accused along with others in the superseding indictment of kidnapping a woman identified only as C.L. on May 28, 2017, and again on June 4, 2017. In the second kidnapping, authorities say C.L. and her boyfriend, identified only as H.D., were kidnapped together and beaten by fellow members of the New Aryan Empire, a white supremacist organization that exists both inside and outside of prison and traffics methamphetamine.
Special Agent James O'Connor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified Tuesday, in a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere, that Ferguson was one of the first Featherwoods, or female members of the New Aryan Empire, and also worked as a secretary-treasurer for the group. She is not related to Timothy J. Ferguson, who is also charged in the indictment.
The kidnappings and beatings were in retaliation for C.L. and H.D. giving police information about the involvement of a fellow member, Kevin Long, in a shooting, O'Connor testified. The gang is known for punishing fellow members, usually by a vote, for disloyalty, he said.
Defense attorney Marjorie Rogers presented testimony from Shannon Ferguson's state parole officer, John Cains, and a federal probation officer, Jonathan Wright. They acknowledged that Ferguson had no disciplinary actions while in prison; she reported to Cains the day after her release, as required; and she enthusiastically completed self-improvement courses in prison, in an effort to show she wasn't likely to flee or be dangerous if released until trial. Rogers also presented testimony from a Russellville woman who described Ferguson as "like a second mother to me" and offered to be her third-party custodian, taking her to appointments and reporting any drug use to the court.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Marianne Shelvey with the U.S. Department of Justice's Organized Crime and Gang Section presented testimony from O'Connor to argue that Ferguson posed a danger to the community.
O'Connor testified that a federal investigation into the gang and its activities began when the bureau helped the Pope County sheriff's office investigate the May 2, 2016 murder of Bruce Hurley, 49, of Atkins. Authorities have said that Hurley told law enforcement officers about the meth dealings of New Aryan Empire member Marcus "Red" Millsap, now 51.
O'Connor said the group's slogan, "To The Dirt," refers to them remaining members until they die.
He said that Kevin Long, a self-admitted member of the group, was arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm by certain persons on May 20, 2017. Other members of the group then suspected H.D., in whose home the gun was found, of making statements to police that led to Long's arrest. The woman known as C.L. was also accused of providing information on Long, he said.
C.L. was then lured on May 28, 2017, to a location where Ferguson and others were waiting, and she was held down against her will and stabbed and beaten, before being allowed to leave the next day, O'Connor testified. He said that on June 4, 2017, H.D. and C.L. were together when they were tricked into going somewhere where they were boxed in by New Aryan Empire members who took them to another location in Russellville, tied them down and beat them.
"H.D. had a knife, heated up with a flame, pressed on his face, which permanently disfigured him," the agent testified. He identified photographs later found during the execution of a search warrant showing injuries to both victims, and said agents found a baseball bat with H.D.'s blood on it.
O'Connor said that in an interview with federal agents, C.L. identified her attackers in the May incident, specifically including Ferguson and Carey Mooney, who is also charged in the indictment. He said C.L. also described the presence of several New Aryan Empire members at the June kidnapping, where both C.L. and H.D. were made to write an apology letter to Long "over and over again until they got it right," and H.D. agreed to "take the firearm charge."
O'Connor testified that when federal agents later executed a search warrant at the location on June 6, they found several drafts of the letters, and several items with blood on them, including a chair and a rope. He said agents also found emails between April Howell, who was one of Long's girlfriends, and Shannon Ferguson, which appeared to have been written during the last kidnapping.
At one point, Howell asked Ferguson if C.L. had ever written a letter explaining why she ratted on Long, to which Ferguson replied, "She's writing it now. I'm sure it will be exquisite."
O'Connor said that indicated to him that Ferguson was present at the location where C.L. was being beaten. He said that in the group, only the men assault fellow male members, while women "take care of their own."
Deere cited testimony about "the violence, really heinous and premeditated," and Ferguson's association with Long, "who appears to be a ringleader," in refusing to release Ferguson, saying she could present a danger to other witnesses.
Metro on 03/13/2019