Once the government proves the existence of a criminal organization like Nuestra Familia, evidence establishing beyond a reasonable doubt defendants connection with the conspiracy, even though the connection is slight, is sufficient to convict defendant. If the legal standard is a slight connection, then the CD and videos where Gratton and Sir Dyno appear side by side as brothers in crime may prove overkill. But the state prison guards union and correctional officials have argued that to mix inmates now would only bring more violence. Monday. Anytime he drove out of the area, he had to call Ragan or his partner. Since at least the 1920s, many California Latinos have thought of themselves in the same way that other residents of the state divide themselves: as Northern Californians, or Norteos; and Southern Californians, or Sureos. That leaves Cervantes, who has always kept a keen eye on Salinas affairs, firmly in control as the organization's only general. Request a quote for the most accurate & reliable non-lethal training, Get Curious Before Getting Furious: How Cynicism Impacts Behavior On Scene, Authorities say Nuestra Familia's revisions mean more violence in streets By Julia ReynoldsThe Monterey County HeraldMONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. Monterey County's deadliest gang has new leadership and a new constitution, forcing changes that law enforcement officers say is translating to increased violence in the streets. His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. had pulled down between $50,000 and $80,000. As evidence, family members said, he had a large Aztec goddess tattooed atop the Nuestra Familia logo on his back. Dozens of Napans who are homeless will soon find permanent housing in a former city motel. From inside Pelican Bay State Prison, Lizard had served as the brutally violent gangs principal secretary, helping inmates in solitary confinement set up bank accounts in Idaho, direct drug sales across Northern California, and even order murders. Copyright 2023 And all are charged with substantive crimes: drug sales and possession, murder, and so on. As gang-on-gang violence grew in the late 1970s, prison administrators also began housing Norteos and Sureos in separate cells. Under federal law, its rather easy to be declared a coconspirator in a RICO case. After Gratton ratted out his fellow gang members one by one, offering a list of 350 names, he was moved into the federal Witness Relocation Program. None of these other [Nuestra Familia members] have a thing to say about [Sir Dyno], Manson says. I was a soldier, and a good one.. Daniel Lizard Hernandez was awakened by an FBI agent at 4 a.m. a few weeks ago. The policy eventually trickled down to county and city jails and even the California Youth Authority. , it will help establish the label financially. I didnt care, he said later. To Sir Dyno and his attorneys, the report demonstrates his utter confusion under unbelievable circumstances. If you say, Nothing, youre not gonna make it. If Nuestra Familia invested in meth labs, a network was already in place. They sat by and watched these guys pick each other off one by one. According to motions filed by Zilversmit, at least two other alleged Nuestra Familia members were attacked while the feds were listening in. He recorded From the Barrio with Love, taking his name outside California and into pockets of Chicano markets in places such as Phoenix, Denver, and Albuquerque. According to Ribotas report, when he asked about the rappers affiliation, Rocha denied having any gang involvement but is a norteo. He took the gangs oath, Blood in, blood out, and rose to the rank of captain within a few years. Finally, brothers were required to learn sign language so they could make the most of the one hour outside their cells. But at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. Lizard and Nato were both soon paroled. One morning this past August, Sir Dyno sat in his Dodge Caravan, stuck in I-580 traffic, knowing hed be late for his court hearing in San Francisco. Chained to their seats on a triple-tiered bleacher facing the jury box were fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits. At the time, the $5 million price tag and networking of thirty different law enforcement agencies made it the most expensive and largest investigation into a California prison gang. I can get a gun and go down and do it, he boasted. It wasnt worth it to me anymore., Yet the claim that the rapper was blissfully unaware of Grattons gang connections doesnt pass the sniff test for law-enforcement guys like Jared Lewis. Nineteen-year-old Armando Frias was shooting pool when he recognized the wanted man. In the eyes of the law, that would make Sir Dyno a real-life gangster. There was Henry Happy Cervantes, built like a fire hydrant, who got caught on an FBI wire offering to murder two Santa Clara County district attorneys. Days later, Big Smiley sent Lizard his own wilas, as well as books on Chicano history. Lizard was charged with attempted murder, and sent back to jail. The theory went, if we separated the two gangs, wed have less problems, Vasquez said. It is here that the stories begin to diverge: Rocha claims that in the eleven or so months he knew Gratton, the parolee never discussed his ties to the highly secretive prison gang. Everyone says they want to rap, says they want to make CDs, but David was really doing it. Finally, he was going to San Francisco to testify. The deep trouble in which he now finds himself has everything to do with his performance on a gang-funded rap CD titled Generations of United Norteos Till Eternity. In the logic of the Chicano intrastate rivalry, there are norteos and sureos, and even if youre not running with the corner gang, youre still vulnerable to getting whacked by your enemy. Even outside prison, members were expected to remain loyal to the gang. While Nuestra Familia is primarily a Chicano gang, membership sometimes extends to other Latinos as well as non-Latinos. He pleaded guilty to arranging two murders from prison, and will be sentenced to life in prison in December, along with the gangs generals. Bakersfield was the traditional dividing point, but with the crush of immigration, the numerically superior Sureos pushed the demarcation line further north, first to Fresno and then to Modesto. Lizard reminded his brothers about the warriors in Pelican Bay. The largest and most feared Latino prison gang was the Sureo-based Mexican Mafia, or La Eme. Black tattoo ink scribbled across their forearms and crawled up their necks, and some of them hid stone-faced beneath dark Ray-Ban-style glasses. 15 year old Carlos "Casper" Silva a Preston parolee is arrested murders 3 people witin a seven week span on behalf of Nuestra familia. Together, Nato and Lizard robbed drug dealers, committed petty crimes, and raised funds for their carnals back inside. According to grand jury testimony from family members, Bobs wife was just about to call him in for dinner when a Ford Explorer pulled up to the curb. The amount of violence attributed to the men inside the courtroom and their associates on the outside was staggering: fifteen killings, eighty conspiracies to murder, ten attempted murders, ten felony assaults, one hundred assaults, and two drive-by shootings. I wanted to go face to face with all those attorneys, he said. federal racketeering case, according to court papers. And the transfer led to internal power struggles played out in the streets, police say. Lizard returned to the Bay Area and worked closely with FBI Agent Sean Ragan. The risks had Lizard thinking. They were operating a sophisticated shop, gang expert Lewis said. They were caught up in power grabs and backstabbing. Prosecutors say the That was enough to send Holguin back to Lizards hotel room to make an arrest. Inside, he was greeted by FBI agents. Salinas underboss Alberto Larez estimated that over the last ten years hed sent Cuete and the generals 40, 45 thousand dollars.. He argued with a dealer and ended up firing three bullets at the man as he ran away. Jared Lewis, a former Modesto gang investigator, says the impact of G.U.N. I know theres some things you dont ask., Dyno claims thats the moment he realized hed been duped and would never see his cash. That wasnt what I signed up for.. Prison gang members set to testify against Nuestra Familia leaders. On one Gang Stories track about issuing payback on the cops, a voice in the background calls out Detective Ribotas name, a suggestion to watch his back. Lizard said that whenever brothers were allowed into the law library, they used sign language to swap information, trade intelligence reports, and even assign homework. They dont want guys to get close; it blurs the lines. Dec. 22, 2021 5 AM PT. All norteos must unite with the determination to fight and challenge all those who oppose our unity and advancement toward equal justice. But Wino rejected Lizard. Im not sure you can undo it.. Theres blood on the governments hands here, he said. He was arrested by investigator Tim Helton for selling and transporting meth. He said he felt no jitters, nor did he question his loyalties to the brothers he was betraying. If he was going to hold the case together, hed need to account for his own alleged crimes as a snitch. The quickest way to get money back fast would be to release a norteo album. The prosecutors revealed that Gratton would testify Sir Dyno dealt meth on his behalf. I said, Yeah, I could rap like that, whatever. That was their fuck-up. When the five were transferred out of California, Gov. Once that dried, the correspondent would write another letter in ink on the page, but the recipient knew to hold it up to the light to read the real message. and manufacturers. On the back cover, he stands next to Gratton, flashing XIV signs. The next rung of leaders in Pelican Bay includes Daniel "Stork" Perez of Salinas; Anthony "Chuco" Guillen of San Jose, who was involved in the murder of a Nuestra Familia member there and is serving a 25-year sentence; and George "Puppet" Franco, 39, from San Jose, responsible for the gang's activities in Stockton, Tracy and Fresno. I didnt know the guy was selling drugs, too. I told him, Listen. When his handlers shook him from his slumber, Lizard felt relieved, not irritated. CD, Lewis and Helton say. Hes turned his attention to rapping about what he knows, rather than what he fantasizes. A local health care fraud enforcement action has resulted in federal charges against of 25 Southern California defendants for their alleged involvement in healthcare fraud schemes that fraudulently sought over $150 million from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as well as private insurers and union health benefit plans. Henry Happy Cervantes spoke to Lizard alone. By 1965, Sureos outnumbered Norteos by roughly seven to one inside the prison system. The report counted nearly seven thousand cases of inmate assault in the states 32 institutions, along with nine murders that year, a steady increase over the past decade. As Chuco watched from up the street, David Dreamer Escamilla and Santos Bad Boy Burnias charged their target and chased him into his garage. Rocha still did not understand the charge or why he was being placed into custody. And there was ghosting a letter: using a Q-Tip to swab milk or urine to write out orders on a piece of paper. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. After a Nuestra Familia-led intifada left Folsom State Prison wet with blood, officials transferred most if not all of that facilitys Norteos to other state institutions. While the recognized leaders of the Norteos in Pelican Bay ask that members respect the former leaders, they have been effectively stripped of their authority. Gratton stands only five foot seven, but his bold tattoos did the talking. In all, 21 people were indicted in the FBIs three-year investigation into Nuestra Familia, code-named Operation Black Widow. Orders from the generals were arriving on the streets within weeks, if not days. One month later, he was visited by Louie Holguin, a special agent with the Department of Corrections who monitored parolees and prison gangs. Brown Bob brought it on himself., It was just like the Nuestra Familia constitution said: Blood In, Blood Out., By the time Lizard exited Pelican Bay, prison guards had nicknamed Nuestra Familia The Blooming Flower for its astonishing growth. At the time of Operation Black Widow, law enforcement officials had estimated that Nuestra Familia was responsible for at least 600 murders in the previous 30 years. On Daddys Home, instead of the stone-cold thug who whacks his way through the streets, Sir Dyno raps about what he truly is: a 31-year-old father facing a life sentence for the choices he made years earlier. crimes from Salinas to the Oregon border. He found his man in David Sir Dyno Rocha, then a 26-year-old budding rhymer and producer from Tracy. While members of the Norteos gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteo. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. Danny was telling me, But Im not a gang member,' Holguin said. His bike frame was made by Dyno, so the kids at school called him Dyno Dave. By the time he turned twenty, though, youthful angst had sunk in, and Too $hort cassettes found a home in Dyno Daves music box. It is a form of psychological torture." Perez says that, after the initial arrests of the five, attempts were made to persuade them to plead guilty or inform on their co-defendants and on Cuba by . Instead, phone records and a confidential FBI source revealed that hed driven to a house in East San Jose, where hed bought two pounds of methamphetamine. Natos harsh sentence made Lizard rethink his lifes path. That what I decided to do.. Lizard said he wrote to a member of the Black Guerrillas whom hed met in San Quentin. After several years of upheaval -- stemming largely from the massive federal prosecution called Operation Black Widow -- the top leadership of the Nuestra Familia is once again firmly established. The young guys trying to make their name were always the craziest, just as Lizard once had been. In the early 1970s, gang fights which were called race riots then became more common inside the prisons. Sir Dyno claims Gratton stiffed him on payments a few months after the CD hit the streets, and that he never worked with the dude again. But a year into the case, the governments complaint against Sir Dyno shifted course. His alleged crime is conspiracy in other words, simply having associated with the men sitting beside him. In its fifteen years of operation, at least a dozen inmates have been strangled to death inside its walls, according to lawsuits and published reports. Lizard still takes pride in that: What the law didnt know was that Lizard had an escape plan and a handcuff key, but more importantly, he had influence on the streets, he recalled in a letter. Napa's downtown parking meters were removed three decades ago. slated for Sept. 13 in San Francisco, is Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba According to Lizard and FBI informants, the accounts held up to $25,000. But Lizards exploits show how prison policies adopted to control gangs such as Nuestra Familia may actually have helped them bloom. If he stayed in Corcoran, hed have to watch his back for young Norteos. I also learned the informant was skimming money from the Nuestra Familia street leaders and not reporting this to me.. Sir Dyno was born. Both were steeped in the Jehovahs Witnesses faith. They also hardened into gang boundaries on the streets. Lexipol. With most prison gangs who try and use the mail, theres a big lag time things get lost, hits get reversed so theres a lot of miscommunication. Rocha was asked, Do you want to speak to an attorney? Rocha did not respond, and went on to state, Im a musician. He also stated something to the effect, If you have a landscaper work on your yard, you dont care where the equipment comes from.'. Still, the weekend he got out, he was intent on getting paid. Citing the First Amendment, the DA chose not to pursue the case. I want to be with my family/but I killed a man yesterday.. Once paroled, Lizard then served as Nuestra Familias highest-ranking member outside prison. They need their cut, he said. Every day we prepared for war., Lizard speaks about his gang membership with such conviction and authority that one law enforcement official jokingly compared his oratory skills to those of Fidel Castro. In the next room, Ragan and a team of detectives from the Santa Rosa Police Department listened to the meeting and watched it on a hidden camera. Lizard said that during that time, he heard two Norteos disrespecting Smileys name and took the initiative to stab them both. After three decades, Nuestra Familia is now an institution on Northern California streets and is spreading rapidly through the suburbs of the Central Valley, gang investigator Lewis said. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. Read another way, hes merely been persistent in denying his role. According to Lizard, the commander had one more piece of information: Cuete says youre a no-good. In a memo to his colleagues, Helton talks about spotting G.U.N. And in another case, according to his handlers, Lizard drove to Lodi with Happy Cervantes for a weekend getaway, where he left his wire behind and failed to stay in touch with the FBI. The Nuestra Familia trial is expected to last four to six months, and the government will call seventy witnesses. Released from the Secured Housing Unit in August 1995, Lizard was chiseled and fit as a warrior in heart and mind. This was reported to the informants state parole officer. But rumors about G.U.N. Hes convinced hell get off scot-free. These divisions werent just cultural. Therefore, David is an NF member or associate. It sold, and he knew why. It took 26 years for death to catch up to Donald Ramon Ortiz. It probably aggravated the situation, and forced people to align, pick a side. 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