Lawyers for the eight defendants, however, are likely to attack The former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez. Lizard and Nato were both soon paroled. He told the young man that if he wanted to be recognized by Nuestra Familia, he could appeal to the generals. Its just the way it is, Sir Dyno says. He was a micro-manager. He kept a stable of flashy cars, but favored a cherried-out 1969 Impala with a vanity license plate that read NORTENO.. In a corner of his home thats been scribbled on with black markers by one of his kids, Sir Dyno still works daily, mixing beats on a computer, recording new rhymes, diddling on a keyboard. And frankly, heres a guy whos committed numerous violent crimes, and hes getting a free pass. Hernandez has conducted himself as a cooperating witness with great dignity and character, a memo from the US Attorneys office stated. Fourteen of those charged in federal court in Los Angeles and Santa Ana . Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. He took a job at a golf course and used his access to the links to reclaim his swing, sometimes playing 36 holes a day. The five former leaders are James "Tibbs" Morado, 59, whose common-law wife, 20-year-old Salinas resident Crystal Nenque, was found slain on Hecker Pass Road near Watsonville in 2005; Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, 58; Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, 52; Cornelio Tristan, 46; and former Monterey resident Tex Marin Hernandez, 53. Nobody expects you to rap exactly what your life is. He told Ramirez there should be no bloodshed. But then he added: If something comes at us, you cant help it. Not long after Gang Stories came out, Gratton released North Stars second title, a compilation called Cuete. Thats when I started pulling away, he says. Its rise even exceeded the mushrooming growth of the greater California prison population. He said he knows they may try to find him, but that he will not hide. He already was serving a life sentence for murder in Pelican Bay State Prison, but now he was under indictment for ordering a hit on an underboss named Miguel Mikio Castillo. who joined the FBI and other agencies in an investigation of street Special Agent Kelly explained to Rocha that he was being placed under arrest for violation of RICO conspiracy, the report states. He folded up the missive, stuck it to a piece of gum, and dangled it into Smileys cell using a thread of elastic hed plucked from his waistband. Now, at 22, Frias has been sentenced to a prison term of 29 years to life for the gang-ordered execution of Raymond Sanchez at Cap's Saloon in downtown Salinas. In December of 2001, Daniel Hernandez became the highest-ranking member of the Nuestra Familia prison gang to cooperate with federal investigators. Ramiro Goose Garcia from Stockton complained that the gang wasnt sufficiently exploiting the Central Valley drug market. This is a combined effort to enlighten the worthy, as the time is now that we must leave old attitudes to the past, and adopt new and more meaningful and fulfilling ideas. The theory went, if we separated the two gangs, wed have less problems, Vasquez said. In 2000, a yard riot launched by gang members ended after 250 inmates were injured, many of them with stab wounds. Gratton was also using heroin, another mistake in the eyes of the gang. It was a hell of an audience to keep waiting. Four months into his service as a snitch, FBI agents concluded that he had lied to one of his handlers when he said he was headed to Stockton for a round of golf. A small star on his forehead suggested hed killed someone in prison, even though, in truth, he hadnt. Lizard sent word to Big Smiley to corroborate this story. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. Just dont go out looking for it and doing anything., Ramirez replied, Its in motion. Arresting the majority of the defendants was easy; they were already in prison. I didnt know the guy was selling drugs, too. To avoid raising suspicion as a frequent mailer, she set up post-office boxes and had inmates write to other Norteos, who forwarded the correspondence to her. 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. Theres nothing to prepare. s success filtered back up to Pelican Bay, and Gratton began receiving frequent letters from his boss, Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba. 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. Copyright 2023 Nineteen-year-old Armando Frias was shooting pool when he recognized the wanted man. It would bring the most attention and the most sales. Hed loaded up the hit list and was feuding with two of the generals while angling for a promotion. 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. The following day, Ray Sanchez walked into Caps Saloon, unaware that hed been the discussion of a hit. For the first time in decades, one man sits alone at the helm of the criminal organization that for more than 30 years has called the shots for thousands of Norte-o gang members in the Salinas Valley. So far as you can trust anyone in a gang, hed trusted Cuete. His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. Last year, a newly revised constitution for the gang was distributed through underground channels, allowing for change in the mesa's structure, said Santa Cruz County sheriff's Sgt. In the early 1970s, gang fights which were called race riots then became more common inside the prisons. In a way, its a compliment to me. Sir Dyno claims Gratton lifted tracks from Gang Stories without permission and put them on Cuete to give listeners the impression Sir Dyno was still on North Star. Then, several weeks later, a Pelican Bay investigator intercepted a letter penned by Lizard to one of his superiors. All you have to do is find out where the motherfucker is, pull up on the side of them., Lizard ended the conversation. As a kid growing up in this small town, David Rocha was a freestyle BMXer who bounced along on one wheel during Fourth of July parades. Snow-locked Highway 29 between Calistoga and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, CHP announced Friday afternoon. Prosecutors remained high on their star witness, notwithstanding Agent Ragans conclusion: Mr. The CD includes Nuestra Familia artwork and a statement that the success of this project has resulted from true Norteo unity we applaud the Carnalismo we would also like to give a special thanks to our family [emphasis theirs] and all the warriors. Trial witness R.G. Lizard swung his weight around hard. He faced 25 years to life. They need their cut, he said. Transferred to Chino State Prison, he celled with two Texas gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their own prison system. Gratton is the guy whos going to make the entire case against David; its his word against Davids. Hes turned his attention to rapping about what he knows, rather than what he fantasizes. If they come for him, he said, he worries only for them, his enemies. But nowhere on the CD, or in the lyrics, do the words Nuestra Familia appear. He said that after he drove away from a successful arms sale in the South Bay, at which he wore a wire, one of his underbosses called to warn him he was being tailed by a suspicious car, which Lizard knew was the investigator. On January 24, 2001, at the FBIs prodding, Lizard hosted a junta for local underbosses at a Motel 6 in Tracy. He just happened to have this talent, and he put this talent to use.. They knew I had them., He still hasnt been reunited with his family. The immediate and constant communication strengthened the gang. Copyright 2023 Police1. We shared a common goal, and that goal was to be the very NF members who put the organization back on track.. Rapper David Rocha thought a norteo gangsta CD was his ticket to glory -- not life in prison. On the back cover, he stands next to Gratton, flashing XIV signs. If it read Hello Love!, it was every eighth word. Jacobs told Viramontes he was marked, but promised he wouldn't let it happen in his yard. Once paroled, Lizard then served as Nuestra Familias highest-ranking member outside prison. Maybe hed give me one hundred bucks to shut me up, or fifty bucks to shut me up, he says, or gas money or something.. Nuestra Familia members in the Secured Housing Unit kept to a punishing daily regimen of crunches and push-ups, followed by makeshift weightlifting with a barbell fashioned from pillow cases filled with books and magazines. Hes had plenty of time to contemplate. In an interview last year, Zilversmit said Lizard and his FBI handlers were culpable in the death of Sanchez. Sir Dyno accepts this rivalry, and its where many of his raps come from. Well, if youre upset with the content, the First Amendment says Too bad. There was also the lean and smooth figure of Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba, the gangs most powerful captain, whose job inside Pelican Bay, a fellow gang member told the feds, was to keister the syndicates constitution in his rectum, along with the master hit list which, by now, read fifty names long. You cant smoke everybody that sells dope.. If the underbosses suspected that he was the target of an investigation, they might shun him or worse. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). A few years earlier, the two attorneys had nailed former general Pinky Hernandez for ordering a murder, and Cuete wanted to offer their coffins as a gift to Pinky. Right after the CD came out, red-on-red violence all but ended, he says. And most of it hung on Lizard. was drawing the attention its makers craved, and then some. CD, Sir Dyno says. Zilversmit represents Armando Suave Heredia, a gang member arrested for ordering a successful hit on Salinas heroin dealer Ray Sanchez. Californias most fearsome prison is located near the Oregon border, a windswept fortress surrounded by three walls and two barbed-wire fences. Lizard said he beat Ruiz to a pulp with his fists, bringing his victim close to death. Daniel "Lizard" Hernandez helped Nuestra Familia run a criminal empire from inside state prison. All Gratton needed was a rapper. That leaves Cervantes, who has always kept a keen eye on Salinas affairs, firmly in control as the organization's only general. He reiterated that he told Martinez clearly: no bloodshed., How could I order the hit? he asked. At first, Sir Dynos lead attorney Rosalind Manson thought she had a slam-dunk, a bring-on-the-First Amendment, lets-end-it-now case. Lizard wrote Big Smiley a wila, or small letter the size of a gum wrapper. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. The policy eventually trickled down to county and city jails and even the California Youth Authority. According to prison officials, gang leaders could arrange such deals by offering to keep the peace. Robert Brown Bob Viramontes was 44 and had shared cells with Nuestra Familias founding fathers in Soledad. That autumn, according to testimony from a fellow gang member, Lizard ordered seventeen stabbings. It was explained to Rocha that the RICO charge had to do with racketeering and his involvement with Nuestra Familia prison gang; specifically in the creating of the Generations of United Norteos compact disc and how the CD was financed. prison gang are prepared to testify against their top leaders in a The gang's new constitution says the five should still be respected as former leaders, but has stripped them of their power in California. Cuete had gone power mad. Anytime he drove out of the area, he had to call Ragan or his partner. You can cancel at any time. That wasnt what I signed up for.. Lo-fi beats backed simple, repetitive keyboard riffs. Gratton was shirtless, a large Nuestra Familia tattoo visible in bold letters across his back. The justices will decide whether prisoners are denied their constitutional rights when forced to cell with another inmate based on race; a ruling could force administrators to consider full integration. Big Smiley immediately ordered his soldier to enforce gang law back in C-Facility. At home, Sir Dyno says hes just waiting for the truth to come out, but the phrase emerges like one thats been worn out, a fortification against the harsher truth: He stands to lose everything. Most importantly, he showed a willingness to draw sureo blood. Lizard said he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals after an investigator from Santa Clara County nearly blew his cover. In his FBI interrogation, Gratton never makes it clear whether Sir Dyno knew he was rapping for the mob, or that North Star Records had been set up to launder money. If Sir Dynos case were only about lyrics, its likely the First Amendment would swiftly end the debate in his favor. Since his first arrest, hes produced a new CD nearly every month. Assistant US Attorney Steven Gruel responded in court papers that federal agents couldnt be blamed for failing to notify the victim, since Sanchez already knew that he had serious problems with Heredias gang (in fact, he had been hiding). Gruel also offered four instances in which Lizards testimony did lead FBI agents to inform Norteos they were marked for death. Dozens of Napans who are homeless will soon find permanent housing in a former city motel. Released from the Secured Housing Unit in August 1995, Lizard was chiseled and fit as a warrior in heart and mind. Hed began his criminal career as a teenage norteo gang member, pulling off smash-and-grab robberies of jewelry stores. A member of the Mexican Mafia, Ortiz was cast out of the criminal organization in the mid-1990s after angering . The consequences that the gangs have caused in society have given rise to two effects, which are the most outstanding: gang violence and citizen insecurity. Gratton knew nothing about the music business, but he had bricks of cash and a simple plan: to produce a rap CD that would work as a recruiting tool for Nuestra Familia and also serve to launder the gangs drug money. Frias returned to the bar, gun tucked in his waistband, walked behind Sanchez, and fired a bullet into the base of his skull, killing him. Lizard prepared to take the stand against Nuestra Familia. He crawled into his living room before dying in his familys arms. Operation Knockout No one who entered the system could safely walk alone. It was his way or the highway. A few weeks later, the rapper signed a new contract with Dog Day Records and quickly released an album called Gang Stories. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). slated for Sept. 13 in San Francisco, is Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba One month later, he was visited by Louie Holguin, a special agent with the Department of Corrections who monitored parolees and prison gangs. Lizard recalls Nato asking him why he claimed Sureo, and if hed heard the history of the gang conflict. Whites joined the Aryan Brotherhood or Nazi Low Riders for protection. These defendants wisely elected to plead guilty rather than face the prospect of Mr. Hernandez appearance as a trial witness against them.. The hit list and was feuding with two Texas gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their prison. In bold letters across his back federal investigators prodding, Lizard was chiseled and fit as a cooperating with. 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