Former Fort Wayne man among 2 Aryan Circle members convicted for attack in federal prison

WASHINGTON (WISH) — A federal jury on Monday convicted two members of the Aryan Circle — they include a former Fort Wayne, Indiana, man — for the attack of an inmate at a high-security U.S. penitentiary in central Mississippi, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

The Aryan Circle is a race-based and violent prison gang with hundreds of members operating throughout the country, both inside and outside of prisons.

William “Big Head” Glenn Chunn, 40, of Humble, Texas, and Aaron “Mongo” Matthew Rentfrow, 42, of Fort Wayne, were convicted of violent crimes in aid of racketeering assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, and violent crimes in aid of racketeering attempted murder.

The attack happened Aug. 17, 2017, at the USP Yazoo City penitentiary in Mississippi. Rentfrow was an Aryan Circle prospect at the time.

A news release from the Justice Department said, “Chunn, through his chain of command, ordered Rentfrow to stab the victim to earn membership into the Aryan Circle. Chunn ordered the attack because the victim was homosexual.”

The person, who was not named in the Department of Justice release, sustained rib fractures, multiple puncture wounds to his chest, cuts to his face and head, and a collapsed lung, which requires a chest tube.

Rentfrow committed the attack and, as a result, became a member of the Ayran Circle.

Chunn and Rentfrow are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 18. Each man faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Minor reported Rentfrow is serving a life sentence for the strangulation of his wife, Tonya Lynn Rentrow, on Jan. 10, 2011, at their home in Fort Wainwright, a U.S. Army garrison in Fairbanks, Alaska. Aaron Rentfrow was an Army mental health technician before his wife’s death, and he’d served two stints in the Army over seven years.

Chunn had been scheduled for release from prison last June.