Plea deals in works for Aryan Empire gang members

Published 4:00 pm Monday, March 2, 2015

Members of a white supremacist gang that operated in Pendleton are lining up to take plea bargains.

Umatilla County Circuit Court records show three members of the United Aryan Empire have court dates this month to change their pleas: Gregory Tinnell, 43; Steven Grangood, 22; and Sarah Frankford, 30.

Tinnell faces charges of racketeering, conspiracy to murder two people, including a fellow gang member, weapons crimes and more. He was going to change his plea in February until his defense attorney sought more time. The plea change hearing is now set for Friday at the Umatilla County Courthouse, Pendleton.

Grangood faces similar charges, including for racketeering and two counts of conspiracy to murder. He is in the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities, The Dalles, and has a hearing Tuesday morning to change his plea. Records show he will appear in court in Pendleton via video from jail.

And Frankford has a change of plea hearing Monday morning. She faces charges of third-degree assault and conspiracy to commit third-degree assault. She is no longer in the Pendleton jail.

Her significant other is Jeremiah Mauer, 30, the man Pendleton police Chief Stuart Roberts said founded the gang. Mauer and Warren Browning, 35, face charges of racketeering, plotting to murder and more.

Mauer, Browning and Tinnell remain in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton. Matthew Reed, 24, already pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault for trying to use a weapon to harm another man. The state in exchange dismissed a conspiracy to murder charge against him. Reed is serving a sentence of three years probation.

Mauer, Tinnell, Browning and Grangood plotted on Nov. 23, 2014, to kill a man in Pendleton, according to police and grand jury indictments. And then on Dec. 24, 2014, Mauer, Tinnell and Grangood conspired to kill Browning, who had a falling out with the gang. A shooting Jan. 9 north of Pendleton, Roberts reported, helped police obtain search warrants and take down the United Aryan Empire.