White Supremacist Gets Life Sentence For Plotting Jessup Prison Murder: Officials

JESSUP, MD — A white supremacist was sentenced to life without parole on charges of orchestrating a gang murder in an Anne Arundel County prison, officials announced Tuesday.

A judge also sentenced the convicted man to another life sentence plus 40 years. This term will run concurrently with the first sentence. Altogether, this is the maximum penalty for this crime.

Authorities identified the accused man as 52-year-old Joseph Leissler. An incident report noted that a jury on Aug. 23 found Leissler guilty of:

• First-degree murder
• Supervising a criminal gang
• Participating in a criminal gang resulting in death
• Participating in a criminal gang
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder

Prosecutors accused Leissler of leading the Aryan Brotherhood and directing his underlings to kill 43-year-old John O’Sullivan, a ranking member of opposition gang Dead Man Incorporated. The murder was payback for a gang-related assault at another prison that did not involve any of the parties, officials added.

"This sentence sends a clear message that justice doesn’t stop at the prison door and that any violent acts committed within prison will have real world consequences," Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in the press release. "While the defendant did not wield a knife to kill the victim, he used his authority over fellow gang members to order them to carry out this attack."

The write-up explained that the murder happened on Aug. 14, 2016 at the Jessup Correctional Institute. O’Sullivan was returning to his cell in Building F after a recreation break to fetch his shower materials when three other inmates attacked him with homemade metal knives, authorities informed.

Despite intervention from correctional officers, the prosecution indicated O'Sullivan died on the scene. The Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that the cause of death was blood loss from 54 stabbing and cutting wounds, the report continued.

O’Sullivan’s sentence was scheduled to end months after his murder. Reports also suggested that the victim wanted to keep the peace between the rival gangs and avoid confrontations.

The prosecution listed the suspects as Vincent Bunner, Calvin Lockner and Brian Hare.

Bunner and Lockner were tried and convicted on second-degree murder charges last year, officials detailed. They also divulged that a judge sentenced the partners to a maximum of 30 years after their current prison time.

Authorities disclosed that Hare pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, testified against his co-defendants and was sentenced to life in prison with all but 20 years suspended.

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RELATED:

• White Supremacist Found Guilty Of Plotting Murder: Officials
• 'White Supremacists' Sentenced In Prison Murder Case: Report

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