Local Fresno career criminal and cooperating witness Troy Clowers testified in the Fresno Aryan Brotherhood trial on Thursday, January 23, 2025.

Clowers, 40, was one of the first Government witnesses to testify. He testified he spent the last 23 years of his life going in-and-out of prison before deciding to “get out of the lifestyle” and cooperate in July 2021.

Clowers is a chameleon. His long-sleeve white shirt hid his sleeves of prison tattoos. He has a clean-shaven appearance, with his hair slicked back, neatly parted. No neck or face tattoos were visible.

Clowers testified he was routinely in contact with both Kenneth “Kenwood” Johnson and John “Pops” Stinson. Being from the Fresno area, Clowers associated regularly with Kenneth Bash, Robert “Rage” Eversole, and Todd Morgan. Bash and Morgan were full-fledged Brothers.

Bash warned Clowers about working for Kenwood Johnson.

“Stay away from him cuz you won’t last long,” Clowers testified about what he was told.

In the Sacramento trial, it was revealed “Cyco” Matt Hall organized an Anaheim hotel drug robbery in July 2016 at the direction of Johnson. The intended target turned the tables on the would-be robbers and shot and killed one of them before escaping. Afterwards, Hall was heard on intercepted calls with Ronnie Yandell complaining about and plotting to kill Johnson. Hall ultimately committed suicide in Costa Rica in 2019.

The Employment Development Department Fraud Hustle

Troy Clowers testified he was knee deep in COVID relief fraud circa 2020-2021. In his words, Employment Development Department (EDD) fraud “was going on all over the place.” 

Clowers testified Kenwood Johnson laced him up on how to get his EDD fraud hustle on. Clowers also committed EDD fraud for John Stinson and Andrew “Misfit” Collins. He testified he would have 20 EDD applications going simultaneously and would divvy them up between AB members.

Clowers efforts were well-regarded by The Brand and he testified he went Up For The Tip circa 2020. Clowers testified other AB members told fellow Woods to “treat him as a Brother” and use the Brand’s name to get influence.

The EDD fraud caught up to Clowers, and he was charged in Fresno County in November 2020. He was transported from Pleasant Valley State Prison to Fresno County Jail. While he was in jail, his prison term expired. Clowers bailed out of County jail in January 2021.

One of his co-defendants in the EDD fraud case was a female named Fawn Dehmel and the two soon began a romantic relationship.

The Quarterly Package Catalogue Hustle

As Clowers testified about the dope-laden catalogue, Johnson scoffed, chuckled, and shook his head.

In the Sacramento AB trial, the jury heard how Justin “Rune” Petty, a Golden State Overnight employee, would insert contraband into quarterly packages while they were in transit from the vendor to prison.

The April 2021 Sick One

Kenneth Reed, John Stinson’s attorney, noted that this crime was not done at the direction of the AB.

“There’s no AB Brothers telling you to shoot your brother-in-law?” Reed queried. Clowers confirmed as much.

The Fresno Bee reported Clowers fled with Dehmel to Las Vegas, where he acquired a new cell phone. The two then traveled to Santa Cruz County, where they committed multiple automobile burglaries. Next stop was Madera County, where the duo used items from the auto burglaries to create fake IDs, which presumably were used for EDD fraud.

Clowers and Dehmel were arrested on April 28, 2021 in Madera County. They had close to a pound of methamphetamine in their possession. Clowers’ bail was set at $1.6 million.

Upon his return to Fresno County Jail, Clowers was given authority to shot call by Todd Morgan. Clowers testified he received a kite from Morgan indicating that Kenneth Bash and Robert Eversole were on the Bad News List. That meant Clowers or his designee would be expected to conduct a removal. Clowers took no action. “I’m gonna be on this list too,” he testified.

Clowers met with investigators for the first time on July 21, 2021. In the interview, federal prosecutor Stephanie Stokman told Clowers he was looking at a mandatory minimum of 10 years for the meth and a maximum sentence of 25 years. Clowers agreed to cooperate, but made a point of noting it wasn’t going to be “for free.”

Clowers ended up pleading guilty to state charges for assault with a firearm and gang enhancement and received a 6-year, 8-month sentence. He also pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and received 120 months (10 years). The deal called for both sentences to be served concurrently.

Clowers testified he has been told his federal sentence could be cut in half for his cooperation in the AB case. Frank Clement’s attorney Jean Barrett noted that if that were to occur, Clowers could be a free man by the end of 2025, which would be rather lenient treatment given his criminal record. Clowers agreed.

“I feel blessed.”