Co-founder of white supremacist gang Krude Rude Brood in Portland sentenced to 10 years in prison

Anthony Kronus Swift, the 52-year-old co-founder of the white supremacist gang Krude Rude Brood in Portland, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to charges of assault, coercion, witness tampering, criminal mischief and identity theft.

Prosecutors alleged Swift sexually assaulted four women who were not capable of consenting due to physical or mental impairments between June and December 2019, but Swift’s plea bargain substituted four counts of of second-degree assault and dismissed all rape and sexual abuse charges. He also was accused of witness tampering in the case.

Swift, who has the word “Brood” tattooed across his chest in big block letters, appeared in court amid heightened security, with four uniformed sheriff’s deputies seated in the courtroom throughout the hearing.

“I didn’t do none of this stuff except what I did in the county jail,” he muttered as he signed the negotiated plea agreement while seated beside his lawyer at the defense table.

The criminal mischief charge stemmed from Swift’s dismantling of fire sprinklers in the downtown Multnomah County Detention Center on Oct. 7, 2021, flooding the jail and causing $32,000 worth of damage, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors charged him with identity theft after police said he was found with the IDs of at least seven different people during a traffic stop in 2019.

He has been in custody on the original rape and sexual abuse charges since Jan. 30, 2020.

His plea came after a judge declared him fit to proceed in March following a psychological evaluation at the state psychiatric hospital, court records show.

One of the women he was accused of attacking addressed the judge. The 35-year-old woman said she was disappointed the plea deal didn’t lead to a single sexual assault conviction against Swift.

“Going to prison is nothing to him really. It’s not much of a punishment,” she told the judge. “Having those sex charges on him would be punishment. … Without him having these specific (sex) charges, I almost feel like he’s winning.”

The woman also said Swift and fellow gang members harassed her, breaking windows of her home, breaking into her house and shooting at her car, which was hit twice. She said she moved three times as a result of intimidation by Swift and his gang.

Prosecutors said investigators had trouble finding all the women involved and that many were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the assaults, making sex offenses more challenging to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Swift wrote several letters to the court from Northeast Portland’s Inverness Jail and sued the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in federal court, claiming authorities didn’t have sufficient evidence to support the state charges. He also complained he wasn’t getting adequate nutrition or healthy food in custody or access to eyeglasses or medical care behind bars. A judge dismissed the suit.

In 2004, Swift was convicted in federal court of being a felon in possession of a gun and was sentenced as an armed career criminal, having prior gang-related convictions for burglary, robbery and assault.

After his release from federal prison, he spent more time in custody for violating his supervised release conditions by having weapons and drugs, according to court records.

Swift and his lawyer, Alicia Hercher, asked for the judge to recommend Swift serve his prison term at the medium-security Oregon State Correctional Institution, just east of Salem.

“I just don’t want to catch a bunch of new charges,” Swift told Multnomah County Circuit Judge Christopher J. Marshall, suggesting problems might arise if he went to another prison.

The Oregon Department of Corrections will make the decision on where Swift will go. He likely will end up in a maximum-security prison based on his extensive criminal history.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Brood was a white street gang that transformed into a prison gang whose members openly displayed swastika tattoos and transformed Portland apartment complexes into armed compounds. Members committed armed robberies, broke into homes, stole cars, trafficked in methamphetamine and illegal guns and operated a torture chamber in an auto body shop.

“Brood” comes from the gang’s early start when four street kids called themselves “Brothers Running Over Ordinary Dogs,” or Brood for short.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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