Jay Hileman, an assistant U.S. attorney in Houston, has withdrawn from a large Aryan Brotherhood of Texas racketeering case due to security concerns.
Richard O. Ely II, a Houston defense attorney who is representing one of the 34 defendants, said Hileman sent him an email on Tuesday, informing him that he was off the case.
Ely said another Justice Department prosecutor from Washington D.C. will be assigned to the case to replace Hileman.
That person will join David Karpel, an attorney with DOJ’s gang unit, who is already assigned to the case. Ely said the case will continue to be prosecuted in Houston.