Michael Thompson, Aryan Brotherhood: 45 Years, Parole, and Fraud

Michael Thompson is a former high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang who served 45 years in California prisons for a pair of 1975 murder convictions, was paroled in 2019, rebranded himself as a life coach, and was then convicted in December 2024 of perjury and fraud tied to a pandemic-era unemployment benefits scheme in Lake County, California.

The 1973 Murders That Sent Him to Prison

On December 12, 1973, two members of an Orange County marijuana syndicate were killed: Vaudra Dewey “Butch” Nunley, 28, and Rue Eugene Steele, 29. Trial evidence showed Thompson fabricated a story that Nunley and Steele planned to kidnap the children of syndicate leader John Solis, in order to have Nunley eliminated. He reportedly wanted to move in with Nunley’s wife.¹

Solis directed his enforcer, Robert Michael Sesma, and Thompson to handle the two men. Nunley and Steele were confronted at gunpoint, tied up, and beaten at Solis’s house, where Steele died. Nunley was placed in a car trunk and driven to a home in Tustin. When the group opened the trunk, believing him already dead, Nunley was still alive. According to testimony from Randall Pierce, who had been hired to dig graves, Nunley raised his hands and said, “I don’t want to die.” Sesma told him to close his eyes and shot him in the forehead with a .22-caliber pistol.²

An informant uncovered the crimes nearly a year later. In 1975, after a six-month trial that was then the longest criminal proceeding in Orange County history, Thompson, Sesma, and Solis were all convicted of murder. Thompson was sentenced to life in prison.² He has long maintained he never personally killed anyone, telling the parole board years later, “I’ve never killed anybody.”¹

Joining and Leaving the Brand

Thompson said he joined the Aryan Brotherhood in 1977, two years into his sentence. Standing 6 feet 4 inches tall and capable of bench-pressing 600 pounds, he was recruited by multiple prison gangs and became known as a skilled knife fighter.¹ He later claimed to be the highest-ranking member of the organization ever to leave it.³

He broke with the gang in the early 1980s and began cooperating with law enforcement, providing information that led to multiple prosecutions of Aryan Brotherhood members. While awaiting trial in Los Angeles in 1987, he provided information that led to the arrest of a deputy.⁴ As a dropout, he remained a target for the rest of his time inside.

How He Finally Won Parole

Thompson had been denied parole more than a dozen times since the mid-1980s. The turning point came in 2015, when a Mexican Mafia hitman attacked him in prison. According to Thompson and officials who reviewed the incident, he disarmed the attacker but chose not to fight back, lying on the weapon until staff arrived. He described this as consistent with a “vow of nonviolence” he had taken.¹

On April 23, 2019, the California parole board recommended him for release for the first time. Commissioner Vijay Desai called the 2015 incident a “huge objective fact” that showed Thompson’s ability to manage himself over a prolonged period. A representative for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office opposed parole, calling him a “narcissist” who still refused to admit guilt. Nunley’s daughter also testified, describing the lasting devastation to her family.⁵

Governor Gavin Newsom declined to reverse the board. Thompson walked out of prison on August 12, 2019, at age 67, after nearly 45 years inside.¹

Life Coach and Documentary Subject

After release, Thompson built a public identity around redemption. He promoted himself as a life coach and drug counselor, founded a Los Angeles-based nonprofit called Live, Learn and Prosper offering conflict resolution training to incarcerated people, and listed himself as chief operating officer of a company called Mann Ranch Inc.⁴

He appeared in multiple documentaries and on podcasts, including one called The Damage Done, describing himself publicly as “the quintessential square.” He said he had taught himself to read and write in prison, having been illiterate and dyslexic as a youth, and claimed to have earned a Ph.D. in biology and business administration while incarcerated.³⁴

The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Scheme

Less than two years after parole, Thompson was running a very different operation. According to prosecutors, beginning around May 2020, Thompson and co-defendant Eric Abner Hutchins, a 45-year-old man he had met in prison, persuaded at least 16 people, mostly homeless individuals, to hand over their personal information. The pair used it to file fraudulent claims for California Employment Development Department unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Victims were told they would receive a portion of the proceeds, but Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones said Thompson and Hutchins kept most or all of the money.⁶

Investigators alleged the two operated out of a business office in Lakeport, where they had EDD debit cards sent in the victims’ names, controlling the passwords and account access to withdraw funds. Prosecutors also accused Thompson of lying about his parole status to obtain two federal Small Business Administration loans and of involvement in a scheme to secure up to $1.5 million in business loans by falsely claiming to operate a wildfire mitigation company that would purchase and lease heavy equipment. Investigators said the companies were shell operations that generated no real revenue.⁴

Thompson was arrested on June 7, 2021, and booked into Lake County Jail. A 33-count criminal complaint was filed in Lake County Superior Court. Authorities called it the largest fraud scheme of its kind in the county’s history.⁷

The 2024 Conviction

The case went to a bench trial before Judge David Markham in Lake Superior Court. Prosecutors relied heavily on handwritten notes and signatures on the fraudulent applications to tie Thompson to the scheme. His defense argued that Hutchins had acted alone, but Judge Markham concluded that the handwriting was Thompson’s.³

The judge dismissed two of the original fraud counts before ruling. On December 11, 2024, Thompson was found guilty of perjury and fraud, including illegally collecting unemployment benefits and lying on government loan applications. The total on the counts of conviction was over $100,000, reduced from the initial estimate of nearly $400,000 after the dismissals.³

Hutchins did not go to trial. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in September 2024 to eight years at North Kern State Prison.³

Thompson had been released on bail after his 2021 arrest and remained free through trial. Sentencing before Judge Markham was scheduled for January 14, 2025. Asked by the Sacramento Bee about the possibility of returning to prison, Thompson said, “If that’s what it is, you have to go with it.”³

1
Vallejo Times-Herald. Newsom Allows Famous Aryan Brotherhood Dropout Convicted of Two Murders to Be Paroled
2
Los Angeles Times. Killer of Two Drug Syndicate Members Denied Parole
3
Sacramento Bee. Ex-Aryan Brotherhood Member Turned Life Coach Found Guilty of Fraud
4
Press Democrat. From Murder to Aryan Brotherhood to Documentary Star, Lake County Man Now Faces Fraud Charges
5
Mercury News. Ex-Aryan Brotherhood Member, Highest Ever to Drop Out, Recommended for Parole
6
Sacramento Bee. Ex-Aryan Brotherhood Member Turned Life Coach Faces EDD Fraud Trial in Lake County
7
Mercury News. Ex-Aryan Brotherhood Leader Charged With Massive Unemployment Fraud Scheme After Being Paroled From Murder Case