Born into white supremacy, according to an attorney who defended Allgier in a recent firearms case, the boy was influenced by his family's criminal mind-set and the racist views of older cousins.

"With no other example to follow, Mr. Allgier simply mimicked the mentality and actions of his older family members," assistant federal public defender Kristen Angelos asserted while asking for leniency.

That argument failed to sway U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell. On June 7, he sentenced Allgier to 104 months for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Allgier - a heavily tattooed neo-Nazi who is serving time at the Utah State Prison for burglary, forgery and escape - now is accused of the Monday slaying of Corrections officer Stephen Anderson at University Hospital.

Before the shooting, AllÂgier's notoriety stemmed mainly from his tattoo-covered face and body - which includes the face of Adolf Hitler on his chest.

Prison officials claimed his body art identified him as a gang member. But Allgier has denied that the letters AEW tattooed on his body stand for Aryan Empire Warriors, as officials claim.

"It stands for Allgier's Eternally White," Allgier said during a 2005 parole hearing. "That's my family. I'm an AllÂgier. I am an Aryan of Aryan descent."

Allgier's two sisters insisted Monday that relatives never influenced him to be a white supremacist.

On his MySpace page, the 27-year-old inmate describes his hometown as "White Nation" and his occupation as "Silent Trades." The page contains racist rants and swastikas, as well as claims that he flies around the country helping white people assert their rights.

Deputy Cache County Attorney Tony Baird expressed surprise Monday that Allgier was implicated in the officer's shooting.

Baird, who previously prosecuted Allgier, said the inmate was a liar and a thief but had no history of actual violence.

"It's a big jump," Baird said of Monday's events.

The South Dakota native's adult criminal record began in 1998 in Rapid City, with convictions at age 19 for theft and reckless driving, according to Baird and Utah Board of Pardons and Parole records.

He came to Logan about two years later to live with an aunt and an uncle, who is a pastor. But Allgier's relatives soon kicked him out for staying out all night with friends.

In October 2000, he also burglarized a next-door neighbor's apartment, for which he was charged with felony counts of burglary, forgery and theft. He made out a stolen check to himself for $300.

The same month, Allgier was charged in Weber County with carrying a concealed 9 mm handgun, for which he got probation and 45 days in jail.

His then-wife, Stephany AllÂgier, had asked for a lenient sentence in a letter to 2nd District Judge Roger Dutton, saying she needed her husband's help to support their two children.

"And before Curtis got in trouble he was doing so good," she wrote.

Allgier pleaded guilty to burglary and forgery in the Logan case and was sentenced to probation and a one-year jail term, which included work release at a restaurant, according to court records.

But in August 2001, Allgier - who has fathered three children - absconded to Seattle, purportedly to rescue his oldest girl from her so-called "dope-fiend mom," court records say. He was sentenced to one to 15 years.

Allgier has had trouble following prison rules, especially the prohibition against tattooing, according to parole board records.

Paroled in May 2003, he was arrested and returned to prison in July 2004 for fleeing to California and being in possession of two knives, parole records say.

Allgier served another 27 months in prison, which included additional time for continuing to acquire tattoos and associating with prison gangs.

He was paroled again in October 2006, but was charged a month later by federal prosecutors with possessing a Hi Point 9 mm handgun.

On Monday, the "Crime Rant" blog reran a December interview with Allgier's current wife.

Jolene Allgier, who calls her husband "Wood," described him as an "awesome artist," who "sings extremely well" and who is "very patient and good with kids."

She also called him a romantic who sings to her and writes poems.

"I'm a better person because of him and that's why I get so upset when people judge from the tattoos," Jolene AllÂgier told "Crime Rant," adding that her husband had the courage "to put his beliefs on his entire body."

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* ARRIN NEWTON BRUNSON contributed to this report.