‘Polar Bear’ the latest snared in Aryan gang probe
chron.com
White Supremacists are dangerous to everyone, not just minorities. The overlaps between prison gangs and the militias in the South and Southwest are quite large in some areas.
At 6-foot-3 inches tall and 300 pounds, Chad Ray Folmsbee looks every bit like his street name, Polar Bear.
So loyal to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, one of the state’s most powerful criminal gangs, he named his daughter, Aryan Princess.
In U.S. District Court on Friday, federal agents contended that Folmsbee,28, is a Houston lieutenant of the white-supremacy gang, riding herd over meetings, collecting dues, and tracking who is to be “smashed on sight” for breaking rules. His arrest for illegally possessing firearms is the latest in a 30-month probe of the prison-born gang across Texas.
During the investigation, which continues, at least 60 ranking officers have been charged at the federal or state levels in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Beaumont and other parts of the state. Two generals have been captured and face murder and racketeering charges.
A third is in custody in North Texas — and perhaps headed back to prison — after leading authorities on a motorcycle chase last summer.
Caught at gun show
The gang makes money with robberies, extortions, kidnappings, drug and weapons trafficking and other crimes, according to federal authorities. Members are required to give 10 percent of their earnings to their commanders.
Prosecutors painted Folmsbee as fully vested in gang operations. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Smith ruled there were no conditions under which Folmsbee could be safely released pending trial.
He was arrested on the latest charges at a Conroe gun show after he supposedly bought four variants of the AK-47 and M-16 rifles, when it was illegal for him to possess firearms, as he is a felon.