James Hart Stern, a black preacher from California, shared a prison cell with Edgar Ray Killen from August 2010 to November 2011 while the former was serving time for wire fraud. During that time, Killen and Stern forged a close relationship and Killen hand wrote dozens of letters to Stern outlining his views on race as well as confessing to other crimes. In addition to the letters, the former leader of the KKK signed over power of attorney and his land in Mississippi to his cellmate. Stern detailed his experience in the 2017 book "Killen the KKK," co-authored by North Carolina author Autumn K. Robinson. Using his power of attorney, Stern disbanded Killen's incarnation of the KKK on January 5, 2016.