Rocha still did not understand the charge or why he was being placed into custody. He had two daughters to support, and payments from other rap projects were slow coming in. If you say, I dont know, they say Where are you from? When you tell them, they direct you to that side of the prison. 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. Inside Corcoran State Prison, Lizard reported to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news. He said he knows they may try to find him, but that he will not hide. Following instructions from the generals, Cuete put out a hit on Brown Bob. Hed picked up an ounce of weed at Rohnert Park and smoked a few joints with his buddy Israel Silent Mendoza. He arrived on time, with one of his friends waiting in the lobby. Salinas underboss Alberto Larez estimated that over the last ten years hed sent Cuete and the generals 40, 45 thousand dollars.. Or were they? Im just going to wait for the trial.. And I was part of that policy. 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. My stuff has softened up a lot, Sir Dyno says. Together, Nato and Lizard robbed drug dealers, committed petty crimes, and raised funds for their carnals back inside. She disguised her own missives as legal mail from a fictitious San Francisco attorney and sent them directly back into the Secured Housing Unit, where all three gang generals were locked up. True to my nickname, he said, Im chameleon-like, and can blend in. He would be the highest-ranking brother on the streets, responsible for overseeing the gangs battalions and communicating back to the generals. He makes drug deals here, he caps sureos there, he disses cops everywhere, all of it in the name of norteo supremacy. I spoke to a classification officer at the San Joaquin County jail who confirmed that Rocha claimed to be norteo but didnt claim a particular set of a gang.. The handlers didnt want to blow his cover. 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. Zilversmit represents Armando Suave Heredia, a gang member arrested for ordering a successful hit on Salinas heroin dealer Ray Sanchez. One by one, the street commanders paid their respects. They taught him to grind down plastic shampoo bottles into shanks for knifing an attacker, and to roll up the pages of National Geographic as makeshift spear handles. 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. 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. With the prison population growing so fast, they had their pick, Lewis said. He was born in Pittsburg, which made him a Norteo by birth. Thats who I am. Inside his Tracy home, he sits comfortably against the oversize cushions on his fluffy couch, with his baby daughter rocking to sleep a few feet away. Still, the weekend he got out, he was intent on getting paid. According to transcripts and court documents, Ramirez brought up the touchy subject of Ray Sanchez, a competing heroin dealer who was boasting of taking over the drug game. Police surmise that the order was responsible for many of the shootings in Salinas in 2007, which increased by 50 percent over 2006 levels. For this outburst, prison administrators shipped Lizard off to Pelican Bay State Prison the last stop for riders. But the state prison guards union and correctional officials have argued that to mix inmates now would only bring more violence. 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. 15 year old Carlos "Casper" Silva a Preston parolee is arrested murders 3 people witin a seven week span on behalf of Nuestra familia. On April 30, 1997, Robert Huerito Gratton arrived in Modesto, fresh from Pelican Bay. 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. If he went back to Pelican Bay, his elders would be upset to see him. I know theres some things you dont ask., Dyno claims thats the moment he realized hed been duped and would never see his cash. Grattons information cast a domino effect, eventually leading to 21 cooperating witnesses for the government. 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. Whites joined the Aryan Brotherhood or Nazi Low Riders for protection. Meanwhile, Daniel Lizard Hernandez is just one step away from his own day of reckoning, and from possibly reentering the outside world. If he was going to hold the case together, hed need to account for his own alleged crimes as a snitch. Each day, the ranking member might assign a topic to his subordinates; by days end, a 1,500-word written essay was due. Hernandez never belonged to either group until he ended up in prison. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. gang's leaders communicated by some form of secret code within the 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. For months, Dynos attorneys have been trying to distance their client from the rest of the defendants and get him his own trial. The three ounces found in Sir Dynos car, Gratton was claiming, came from him a statement which, if true, puts Sir Dyno squarely within the gang conspiracy. How could he go back in with Cuete wanting him dead? The rationale for the federal case, officials said, was to cripple the gang's power base . His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. But Lizard played it cool. Zilversmit said the feds were preoccupied with preserving their investigation instead of saving lives. Therefore, David is an NF member or associate. Were going to take care of it tonight., But then he talked about looking the other way. He told his carnal, We got more on the table than just a fight for powder. 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. Lizard got away with it, and when Big Smiley emerged, he personally sponsored Lizard into Nuestra Familia. In the weeks leading up to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment had been stormed by FBI agents. One month later, he was visited by Louie Holguin, a special agent with the Department of Corrections who monitored parolees and prison gangs. In total, aside from the five convictions and twenty guilty pleas credited to Lizards grand jury testimony and undercover work, federal officials said Operation Black Widow led to a total of 75 Nuestra Familia convictions. But once youre in the gang, you have a choice as to how high you want to go. For now, at least, the final guilty pleas appeared to have pruned back the Blooming Flower. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. Theres nothing to prepare. 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. After he was expelled, his parents sent him back north to live with an aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to. He leaves behind a 3-year-old son of his own, but vows that the cycle of violence ends with him. For seven months, he secretly recorded meetings with his gangs underbosses, allowing federal agents to listen in as his carnals planned drug deals, bought firearms, and talked openly about killing people, including two deputy district attorneys from Santa Clara County. He told his commander that hed received an order from Cuete to kill two deputy district attorneys, a husband and wife team in San Jose named Kitty and Charles Constantinides. And the transfer led to internal power struggles played out in the streets, police say. Napa's downtown parking meters were removed three decades ago. Both were steeped in the Jehovahs Witnesses faith. Time to go, the agent said. Police1 is revolutionizing the way the law enforcement community Not just in rap, but everywhere. 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 I did it because I was ordered to do it. If Sir Dynos case were only about lyrics, its likely the First Amendment would swiftly end the debate in his favor. of Tulare County. It was his way or the highway. Grattons wife was the cousin of a rapper named E-Clips, who at the time was a member of Darkroom Familia. Gratton was also using heroin, another mistake in the eyes of the gang. According to court documents, Gratton says he regularly fronted Sir Dyno four ounces at a time. He was very concerned about his familys safety, his safety. You dont have a choice. I wanted to be that NF member who the people could count on, Lizard recalled. He pleaded guilty to arranging two murders from prison, and will be sentenced to life in prison in December, along with the gangs generals. These divisions werent just cultural. I was a soldier, and a good one.. A from-the-top down, command and control, rigidly structured operator who wouldn't let subordinates exercise any personal initiative. Consider this reasoning using an unrelated example: All chickens are bipeds; John Ashcroft is a biped. When the state-of-the-art super-max penitentiary opened in 1989, built exclusively for the states 2,800 most violent inmates, Governor George Deukmejian hailed it a model for the rest of the nation. Instead, it has become a model gang incubator. Hed proved he had the muscle to ascend within Nuestra Familia. Three days before Christmas, Lizard called Holguin. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. Gang affiliation in California is often a matter of geography, but for Daniel Hernandez it wasnt that simple. About his familys safety, his parents sent him back north to live with aunt... Chameleon-Like, and website in this browser for the next time I comment on 30. If Sir Dynos case were only about lyrics, its likely the First Amendment would swiftly end debate! About his familys safety, his safety defendants and get him his own alleged crimes as a snitch played. To how high you want to go north to live with an in... 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