Three days before Christmas, Lizard called Holguin. with his boss while in prison, and took it out of prison with him, after the idea was ratified by the NF leadership. He estimated the CD had netted about $80,000 and that hed sent only $5,000 to a bank account in Boise, Idaho, where a female accomplice transferred the money into a separate account for NF prisoners. He was arrested by investigator Tim Helton for selling and transporting meth. When it concluded in April 2001, after a $5 million investment, it was one of the largest takedowns on a prison gang in US history. He rapped about how much money hed make, how famous hed get, how many women he could tag, how many people hed shoot. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. For now, at least, the final guilty pleas appeared to have pruned back the Blooming Flower. In April 2001, FBI agents, along with assistance from 24 local and state agencies, ended Operation Black Widow. 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. He oversaw battalions across the greater Bay Area, and relayed their progress to his bosses back inside. 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. Citing the First Amendment, the DA chose not to pursue the case. walls at Pelican Bay State Prison to carry out the crimes. Hed proved he had the muscle to ascend within Nuestra Familia. But government agents said that Brown Bob actually had pulled away from the gang. Like a religious convert eager to please his superiors, Lizards first efforts impressed his would-be peers. I was all ready to go, Lizard recalled later. In hindsight, the move only solidified the stature of race-based gangs, said Daniel Vasquez, a former San Quentin prison warden and gang investigator. By 1965, Sureos outnumbered Norteos by roughly seven to one inside the prison system. 15 year old Carlos "Casper" Silva a Preston parolee is arrested murders 3 people witin a seven week span on behalf of Nuestra familia. You can cancel at any time. Danny was telling me, But Im not a gang member,' Holguin said. Cervantes added that hed already followed the couple to the courthouse. Then at fourteen, Hernandez began to glimpse a different world. The words didnt sound right to Lizard. But if we want to prepare these people for integration to society, maybe we need to integrate them in the prison first, get them used to living with different peoples.. You have entered an incorrect email address. 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. Police dogs sniffed through his car and came up with three ounces of crystal meth. The cases were spread across Northern California. Natos harsh sentence made Lizard rethink his lifes path. gang's leaders communicated by some form of secret code within the But Lizard hadnt exactly gone straight. They werent following what NF was about, he said. One month later, he was visited by Louie Holguin, a special agent with the Department of Corrections who monitored parolees and prison gangs. And there was ghosting a letter: using a Q-Tip to swab milk or urine to write out orders on a piece of paper. Its not realistic to integrate them now, said Holguin, now retired from the Department of Corrections. Whatever you want. That 50 percent looked like gold., Sir Dyno claims he never asked where Gratton got his money, and whether or not the jury believes that could be key to his fate. Prison gang members set to testify against Nuestra Familia leaders. Nuestra Familia's new leadership General: David "DC" Cervantes Top Commanders: Daniel "Stork" Perez, of Salinas; Anthony "Chuco" Guillen, of San Jose; George "Puppet" Franco, of San Jose Demoted: Jose "Huerito" Gonzalez; James "Conejo" Perez Copyright 2008 Monterey County Herald. Cuete took a shine to Lizard because Lizard was a stickler for detail, one police investigator said last year. According to Lewis, gang members have been linked to an estimated three hundred homicides across Northern California. The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. 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. These defendants wisely elected to plead guilty rather than face the prospect of Mr. Hernandez appearance as a trial witness against them.. The images leave no doubt the rapper supports norteos. After the informant completed his undercover work, I discovered that the informant had engaged in unauthorized drug deals, Agent Ragan wrote. crimes from Salinas to the Oregon border. In 2000, a yard riot launched by gang members ended after 250 inmates were injured, many of them with stab wounds. Lizard first went to prison when he was nineteen. And with an ever-increasing prison population that only assures the continued growth of it and other gangs, the very segregation that bolstered the gangs strength appears irrevocable. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. Now, for a CD he cut five years ago, for a guy he claims he barely knew, for a dollar he never made, David Rocha faces a life sentence on a single count of conspiracy. Then he waited. In a memo to his colleagues, Helton talks about spotting G.U.N. 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. During his time with Nuestra Raza, Gratton learned the boot camp basics: how to make shanks, decode letters, and memorize the NF Constitution. I wanted my brothers to eventually put me in a position that would enable me to push the Familia into the future, on a profound level.. To test his allegiance, he was ordered to move on his cellmate, Johnny Huero-T Fernandez. A few weeks later, the rapper signed a new contract with Dog Day Records and quickly released an album called Gang Stories. Its estimated for every NF member, there are seven La Eme. 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. He found his man in David Sir Dyno Rocha, then a 26-year-old budding rhymer and producer from Tracy. Nuestra Familia generals James "Tibbs" Morado, Cornelio Tristan and James "Pinky" Hernandez, and captains Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba and Tex Hernandez were already serving life sentences in California when they were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2001. All you have to do is find out where the motherfucker is, pull up on the side of them., Lizard ended the conversation. The California Supreme Court is now reviewing a case that questions whether inmates can be segregated for their first sixty days at reception prisons such as San Quentin. He and his wife moved to Boise, Idaho, where he hoped the slow pace would help him start over. To the FBIs delight, he also boasted about his existing Ecstasy ring, which was clearing a few thousand dollars a week. But one day on the yard, he was approached by Juan Nato Gurule, a long-lost cousin from the East Bay. They were caught up in power grabs and backstabbing. By the time he turned 25, Dyno had carved his own niche as a Chicano gangsta rapper, mixing Spanish with English. His father sold vacuum cleaners; his mother was a housewife. People like the extreme., He was one of the few who really got off their butts and did it, says Eduardo Crooked Quiroz, a rapper and filmmaker who has known Sir Dyno for ten years. Its getting airtime on radio stations in the Central Valley, and Sir Dyno has gone into super-marketing campaign mode, making a goal to get the ballad single Daddys Home in rotation on 75 radio stations nationwide. 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. Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. But rumors about G.U.N. 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. There was also the lean and smooth figure of Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, the gang's most powerful captain, whose job inside Pelican Bay, a fellow gang member told the feds, was to "keister" the syndicate's constitution in his rectum, along with the master hit list which, by now, read fifty names long. The red line also called for (NF) lieutenant David Cervantes to be put on retirement status. I want to be with my family/but I killed a man yesterday.. We are not going to whack no DAs!. He was a long way from his former East Bay stomping grounds, and hadnt dared visit his wife and children, who still lived locally. But even after Lizard shed his prison skin and sided with the government, his behavior was hardly that of a reformed citizen. Gratton, meanwhile, had Sir Dyno write out a business plan, which offers a glimpse of the rappers instinct to use shock value to boost sales: By releasing G.U.N. The federal indictment named 13 members, including Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, the boss who greenlighted Viramontes, and the two other reigning La Mesa members, James "Tibbs" Morado and Cornelio "Corny" Tristan. Gratton was also using heroin, another mistake in the eyes of the gang. Not at all coincidentally, Pelican Bay also has become the headquarters of Nuestra Familia. Using confidential informants, investigators said they've Gratton stands only five foot seven, but his bold tattoos did the talking. Sureos tended to be more-recent immigrants who often disparaged Norteos as second-generation Latinos who groveled for agricultural jobs and neglected their mother tongue, according to Joseph Hernandez, a criminal justice professor at Sacramento State University and expert in Latino gangs. Click here to read the Nuestra Familia constitution. They were expected to smuggle in a copy of the Nuestra Familia constitution inside their legal folders and commit the document and its philosophy to memory. For the next three months, he made his bones among Norteos by slashing Sureo inmates, brothers hed once shouldered with. On January 24, 2001, at the FBIs prodding, Lizard hosted a junta for local underbosses at a Motel 6 in Tracy. Louis G Rubalcaba, 15826 Silvergrove Drive, South Whittier / Sunshine Acres CDP, CA 90604 Find homes for sale, market statistics, foreclosures, property taxes, real estate news, agent reviews, condos, neighborhoods on Blockshopper.com He is currently a gang instructor at the FBI Headquarter's in-service nationwide training program for field agents. Lizard said Bob was marked because hed stuck his nose into matters that didnt concern him. They were getting orders in and out of that prison in no time. David Rochas arrest report depicts a guy caught off guard. CD, Lewis and Helton say. Today, the real Sir Dyno has five kids, a home in Tracy, and makes a living off CD sales, which he estimates at beyond 100,000 nationwide. Its rise even exceeded the mushrooming growth of the greater California prison population. While awaiting sentencing for armed robbery, he said, he knifed a member of the Aryan Brotherhood in self-defense. He told his interviewers Sir Dyno put out Gang Stories without permission and, for that, was very close to being placed on a hit list.. Click here to follow the step-by-step murder of Brown Bob, as conducted from inside prison walls. You dont have a choice. After they wade through all of the evidence, jurors will then be asked to turn their attention to David Rocha. The risks had Lizard thinking. He reiterated that he told Martinez clearly: no bloodshed., How could I order the hit? he asked. Lizard swung his weight around hard. 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. I was doing it as a smokescreen. 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. What they will do within the federal prison remains to be seen, but investigators said stabbings have increased and communication with the outside has been established through cell phones smuggled into prison. At the time, Operation Black Widow was just getting under way, and Grattons blueprint to the gangs hierarchy was invaluable. And he got what he wanted., Out only three months, G.U.N. Robert Brown Bob Viramontes was 44 and had shared cells with Nuestra Familias founding fathers in Soledad. Hed been Cuetes right hand for four years. 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. CD to argue that Sir Dyno knew Gratton was affiliated with the mob. The guys I played with didnt care Norteo, Sureo, or what side you were on. And I got caught what I was doing. the credibility of the witnesses convicted felons who made deals Not with NF.. 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. Back among the general prison population, Lizard reported to his ranking captain, Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba, one of the gangs most revered members. If the underbosses suspected that he was the target of an investigation, they might shun him or worse. Hed began his criminal career as a teenage norteo gang member, pulling off smash-and-grab robberies of jewelry stores. According to Lizard, the commander had one more piece of information: Cuete says youre a no-good. Lizard and Nato were both soon paroled. Norteos who enter a new prison are required to reveal their status to their superiors, either verbally or in writing. In the aftermath of Operation Black Widow, the five highest-ranking leaders of Nuestra Familia, James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez, were transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX, the federal supermax prison in Colorado. On seven of the CDs fourteen tracks, Sir Dyno raps as hired: Hes a heartless gangsta with a nihilistic agenda. Hed picked up an ounce of weed at Rohnert Park and smoked a few joints with his buddy Israel Silent Mendoza. For penance, Cuete was allegedly ordered to write an essay on the consequences of being a gossip. Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. 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. Lizard said he beat Ruiz to a pulp with his fists, bringing his victim close to death. For this outburst, prison administrators shipped Lizard off to Pelican Bay State Prison the last stop for riders. For norteos, it was a rallying call, with a cruising, bounce-your-shocks soundtrack. Rank and file morale plainly sucked under Parks. The young guys trying to make their name were always the craziest, just as Lizard once had been. 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. s success filtered back up to Pelican Bay, and Gratton began receiving frequent letters from his boss, Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba. You cant smoke everybody that sells dope.. Lizard was charged with attempted murder, and sent back to jail. I am just as dangerous as they are.. On October 27, 1999, a year and a half after he arrived in Modesto, Gratton was pulled over on his way to a carnival in Turlock. Lizard sent word to Big Smiley to corroborate this story. According to Ribotas report, when he asked about the rappers affiliation, Rocha denied having any gang involvement but is a norteo. He seems likely to face civil and/or criminal penalties for what appears to be at best mismanagement and at worst blatant corruption that. , Just as knowledge can be the key, there is strength in numbers; therefore, we norteos can no longer continue to fight against one another. Under the federal RICO laws used to indict criminal organizations like Nuestra Familia, anyone who knowingly associates with one member of a gang becomes part of it and if the gang goes down, so does he. The case grew out of information developed by Santa Rosa Police, Looking to score one night in early 1994, Lizard headed to an intersection known for the sale of chiva. Thousands bought the album in the major record chains like Sam Goody's. Not only does Rocha appear on the cover of the CD wearing the norteo colors (red), reads one motion, but he is seen giving gang signs for the norteos. His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. December 12, 1976. After he was expelled, his parents sent him back north to live with an aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to carouse. Had they not almost burned my identity, I wouldnt have had to be doing any of that, he said. And what had germinated inside the prisons was now blooming all across California. He was very concerned about his familys safety, his safety. After all, race-based prison gang violence dominates Californias prison system, according to a 2002 report from the California State Department of Justice. Since the government began using the antiracketeering statutes to take down crime families in 1970, the definition of coconspirator has been legally challenged and modified several times. You have permission to edit this article. Eventually, he returned there, unable to cope with life in the slow lane. When Lizard asked Goose about protection for the rings, the underling said, Ill produce the manpower [and] the weapons to facilitate our needs and firepower to lay the motherfuckers down.. If he wrote Dear Love, every sixth word mattered. Not only had he given up his post on the street, but now theyd be suspicious that he was a narc. The quickest way to get money back fast would be to release a norteo album. was felt on the streets. Theres no reason Id want him to go down.. He was born in Pittsburg, which made him a Norteo by birth. The prosecutors revealed that Gratton would testify Sir Dyno dealt meth on his behalf. Lizard said he shook the tail, but later needed to prove he was clean. Grattons information cast a domino effect, eventually leading to 21 cooperating witnesses for the government. Im a Northerner, he says, arms wide. And one critic of his tenure as an informant even charges that the FBIs leash on Lizard was so loose that the government turned a blind eye to the killing of a Salinas drug dealer. Together, Nato and Lizard robbed drug dealers, committed petty crimes, and raised funds for their carnals back inside. The former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez. If youre a norteo, and youre flamed-up in reds a 49ers jersey will do a lone sureo, who might be dressed down in his Dodgers blue, could make a move on you, unprovoked. He told Ramirez there should be no bloodshed. But then he added: If something comes at us, you cant help it. posters and CDs in his car, again cementing a link between the prison gang and local norteos. But Lizards exploits show how prison policies adopted to control gangs such as Nuestra Familia may actually have helped them bloom. Lexipol. Again, he uses a kernel of truth to anchor his rhyme, and a metaphor to exaggerate his reality. While Sanchez sipped beer, Frias met Martinez at his car. dozens of murders while imprisoned at Pelican Bay, including In the months since federal officials brought indictments based on the evidence he helped them gather, Lizard told his tale from within the confines of protective custody via letters and telephone interviews. In all, 21 people were indicted in the FBIs three-year investigation into Nuestra Familia, code-named Operation Black Widow. In his interview with FBI agents the next day, Gratton confessed hed concocted the idea for G.U.N. Lizard said he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals after an investigator from Santa Clara County nearly blew his cover. Hernandez has conducted himself as a cooperating witness with great dignity and character, a memo from the US Attorneys office stated. But the feds believe his relationship with Gratton ran deeper than words on wax. The Apprehension Teams scrutiny proved to be Sir Dynos downfall. In fact, the 31-year-old gangsta rapper, whose real name is David Rocha, wanted nothing more than to distance himself from his codefendants. In the aftermath of Operation Black Widow, the five highest-ranking leaders of Nuestra Familia, James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez, were transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX, the federal supermax prison in Colorado.

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