There are 150,000 pages of discovery to sort through, photographs from dozens of crime scenes, audiotapes from hours of hidden wires, and hours of surveillance videos. I am just as dangerous as they are.. Then in late April 2001, more than two years since hed last spoken to Robert Gratton, he was summoned to a meeting with his parole officer. Of the 21 original defendants, nineteen are already certified as Nuestra Familia through the state Department of Corrections. 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. Not long after Gang Stories came out, Gratton released North Stars second title, a compilation called Cuete. The CD had been funded in 1998 from Pelican Bay prison by the top Nuestra Familia general, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba. He wanted to know what assurances could be made for him. He crawled into his living room before dying in his familys arms. 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. After the informant completed his undercover work, I discovered that the informant had engaged in unauthorized drug deals, Agent Ragan wrote. It gives you something to do. By 1965, Sureos outnumbered Norteos by roughly seven to one inside the prison system. 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. SANTA ROSA Several members of the notorious Nuestra Familia He pleaded guilty to arranging two murders from prison, and will be sentenced to life in prison in December, along with the gangs generals. Hernandez never belonged to either group until he ended up in prison. At the time, norteo street gangs were engaged in red-on-red turf wars, and were giving up overall ground to the sureos, their blue-clad enemies from the south. Membership. uncovered a hierarchy at Pelican Bay State Prison responsible for Lizard claimed Norteo. While awaiting sentencing for armed robbery, he said, he knifed a member of the Aryan Brotherhood in self-defense. For months, Dynos attorneys have been trying to distance their client from the rest of the defendants and get him his own trial. Any Nuestra Familia member who betrayed his fellow carnals was subject to article two, section five of the groups constitution: AN AUTOMATIC DEATH SENTENCE WILL BE PUT ON FAMILIANO THAT TURNS TRAITOR, COWARD, OR DESSERTER [sic]. 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. Nuestra Familia prestige is now generational, passed from father to son, uncle to nephew. Symbols and culture 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. Even though hed participated in many stabbings and beatings in prison, hed avoided detection for most of his crimes. In sealed court documents, Lizards primary FBI handler claimed that he was duped by his informant. Its not like her life used to be.. Ultimately itll be a jurys role to sort out the truth, but this much everybody can agree on: In 1997 an NF captain named Robert Huerito Gratton was paroled from Pelican Bay State Prison, moved to Modesto, and started a label called North Star Records. The former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez. According to Lewis, gang members have been linked to an estimated three hundred homicides across Northern California. Hes 31 now, soft-spoken and contemplative, a Papa Bear figure, a Chicano Dr. Dre; hardly the guy who would urinate on a dead mans plot. They pulled in young guys by the bushel.. 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. He was a micro-manager. He oversaw battalions across the greater Bay Area, and relayed their progress to his bosses back inside. But witnesses corralled by police later refused to work with the district attorney. walls at Pelican Bay State Prison to carry out the crimes. Using confidential informants, investigators said they've He told them about the codes, the phony law firm, the bank accounts. As gang-on-gang violence grew in the late 1970s, prison administrators also began housing Norteos and Sureos in separate cells. After he was expelled, his parents sent him back north to live with an aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to carouse. Most importantly, he showed a willingness to draw sureo blood. When Lizard arrived in January of 1995, he checked in with the ranking gang member. 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. 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 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. Preparing is something someone whos trying to hide their guilt would do, he says, fingering a synthesizer keyboard in his studio. His wife had declined to enter witness protection until the trial arrived. Copyright 2023 Police1. This may be called Tools or use an icon like the cog. 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. Everybody knows that. Cervantes added that hed already followed the couple to the courthouse. The prosecutors revealed that Gratton would testify Sir Dyno dealt meth on his behalf. Outside prison walls, the reach and violence of Nuestra Familia had only grown. Inside Corcoran State Prison, Lizard reported to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news. 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. One of the highest-ranking defendants in the upcoming trial, The gang's new constitution says the five should still be respected as former leaders, but has stripped them of their power in California. Besides directing the tone of the project, Gratton asked to narrate the intro. 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. The cells are bone-white and feature little more than a chrome toilet and cement platform with thin mattress and pillow. Lizards initial work was flawless. According to transcripts, two carnals, Israel Silent Mendoza and Anthony Morales, brought Lizard sixty grams of negra, black-tar heroin to sell, use, or barter. 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. posters and CDs in his car, again cementing a link between the prison gang and local norteos. Looking to score one night in early 1994, Lizard headed to an intersection known for the sale of chiva. Like all Latino males incarcerated in California for the past three decades, Lizard was forced to choose a gang allegiance once inside prison. finds relevant news, identifies important training information, While Sanchez sipped beer, Frias met Martinez at his car. Thats not going to happen. Enter https://www.police1.com/ and click OK. OUR PUBLICATIONSCannabis ChronicleEast BayGilroy DispatchGood Times Santa CruzHollister Free LanceKing City RustlerMarin Pacific SunMetro Silicon ValleyMorgan Hill TimesNorth Bay BohemianPress BannerSalinas Valley TribuneSouth ValleyWatsonville Pajaronian, ADVERTISINGAdvertiseLegal NoticesObituariesSponsored ContentWriting An ObituarySubmit an Obituary, COMPANY INFOJob OpportunitiesPrivacy Policy. 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. Police surmise that the order was responsible for many of the shootings in Salinas in 2007, which increased by 50 percent over 2006 levels. 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. These divisions werent just cultural. When the NF trial begins on November 3 jury selection starts this week federal attorneys will use photographs and lyrics from the G.U.N. He always offered to learn more and do more to serve the organization. It would bring the most attention and the most sales. Its not easy.. In August 1998, the CD appeared on the radar of Tim Helton, an investigator on Modestos Street Terrorism and Apprehension Team. Im wearing a wire. And the transfer led to internal power struggles played out in the streets, police say. In 1968, in response to La Emes overwhelming power, a group of Norteos bonded together in the exercise yard of what was then named Soledad State Prison. I was already doing what I was doing, you know? 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. 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. Transferred to Chino State Prison, he celled with two Texas gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their own prison system. Then Lizard got lucky. I also learned the informant was skimming money from the Nuestra Familia street leaders and not reporting this to me.. OUR PUBLICATIONSCannabis ChronicleEast BayGilroy DispatchGood Times Santa CruzHollister Free LanceKing City RustlerMarin Pacific SunMetro Silicon ValleyMorgan Hill TimesNorth Bay BohemianPress BannerSalinas Valley TribuneSouth ValleyWatsonville Pajaronian, ADVERTISINGAdvertiseLegal NoticesObituariesSponsored ContentWriting An ObituarySubmit an Obituary, COMPANY INFOJob OpportunitiesPrivacy Policy. But on his way out the door, the veteran agent made Lizard an offer. Whatever it is, you gotta go to the extreme. 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. 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. 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. Daniel Lizard Hernandez was awakened by an FBI agent at 4 a.m. a few weeks ago. Arresting the majority of the defendants was easy; they were already in 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. Sir Dyno was born. He used rap to vent about what every other twenty-year-old male stuck in a small town vents about: how fucked-up life is. Lizard had been hiding out along the East Coast, a snitch buried deep inside federal protective custody. Lizard said he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals after an investigator from Santa Clara County nearly blew his cover. The FBI believes the exchange earned Lizard a quick $3,600. He smoked pot and tasted alcohol. He returned to San Quentin in June of 1994 to begin his sentence. Released from the Secured Housing Unit in August 1995, Lizard was chiseled and fit as a warrior in heart and mind. The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. 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. He was arrested by investigator Tim Helton for selling and transporting meth. Heres my card.'. Symbols and culture Weeks later, the general was attacked by Sureos and landed in solitary confinement. Operation Knockout You wouldnt isolate an inmate and make him a target for the other side., But some criminologists now acknowledge that this practice strengthened the gangs. Hoping to curtail the violence, wardens stopped putting Anglos, blacks, and Latinos in cells with one another. But such divisions run deeper among Mexican Americans than among other Californians. That autumn, according to testimony from a fellow gang member, Lizard ordered seventeen stabbings. 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. I fear no organization. On the new CD, he pounded out a few norteo rhymes, deriving material from his meth bust, after which hed pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and was sentenced to a year of house arrest. 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. The Nuestra Familia trial is expected to last four to six months, and the government will call seventy witnesses. Lizard said he shook the tail, but later needed to prove he was clean. Frias was not indicted in the federal case but was convicted of murdering Sanchez in a state case built on the FBI's investigation. I said, Yeah, I could rap like that, whatever. I want to be with my family/but I killed a man yesterday.. Again, he uses a kernel of truth to anchor his rhyme, and a metaphor to exaggerate his reality. Everyone says they want to rap, says they want to make CDs, but David was really doing it. A federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members, including the three generals and captain Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba. and manufacturers. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. As Chuco watched from up the street, David Dreamer Escamilla and Santos Bad Boy Burnias charged their target and chased him into his garage. Click here to follow the step-by-step murder of Brown Bob, as conducted from inside prison walls. Lizards letters were sent to code breakers at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He arrived on time, with one of his friends waiting in the lobby. For now, at least, the final guilty pleas appeared to have pruned back the Blooming Flower. Copyright 2023 No one who got whacked was an innocent man. Even outside prison, members were expected to remain loyal to the gang. According to an FBI report, Cuete and his cohorts have continued to manage the gang while awaiting transfer to federal prisons from Alameda Countys Santa Rita Jail. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. Or better yet, two prosecuting attorneys., Cervantes persisted. CD to argue that Sir Dyno knew Gratton was affiliated with the mob. Gratton is the guy whos going to make the entire case against David; its his word against Davids. 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. A small minority within the gang has not transferred loyalty to Cervantes, Santa Cruz County's Morales said. You arent just talking about some poor criminal who was abused by the NF and got drawn into the criminal net. One of those footnotes involves Sir Dyno who, despite his history of gangsta-rap posturing, clearly is not a criminal on a par with his codefendants. The images leave no doubt the rapper supports norteos. The history of that hit calls into question the governments handling of Lizard. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In the aftermath, some of the gang's thousands of Norte-o associates -- street-level soldiers who answer to Nuestra Familia -- stayed loyal to the exiled generals and captains, while others looked to Pelican Bay because the gang's written constitution said its leaders must reside there. Californias most fearsome prison is located near the Oregon border, a windswept fortress surrounded by three walls and two barbed-wire fences. But Lizards exploits show how prison policies adopted to control gangs such as Nuestra Familia may actually have helped them bloom. He told Ramirez there should be no bloodshed. But then he added: If something comes at us, you cant help it. At any one time, an estimated two to three hundred members are incarcerated there, including the gangs top three generals. 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. Crazy Girl translated the letters and passed them along to gang members on the outside. I didnt have a choice, he recalled. Happy was hardcore, with a permanent smile beneath his Fu Manchu mustache. 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. Even though theyd heard about the hit in advance, FBI agents never told Sanchez he was marked for violence. Just dont go out looking for it and doing anything., Ramirez replied, Its in motion. 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. Lizard is unapologetic about his behavior, even today. In NF, they dont want you to be friends in case you have to do something down the road, Lizard wrote. crimes from Salinas to the Oregon border. Silent also provided Lizard with a stolen Dodge Durango to test-drive. Helton checked out Grattons business licenses, and learned of Sir Dynos involvement through the music distributor. He said he knows they may try to find him, but that he will not hide. Holguin was well known to Nuestra Familia members hed interviewed hundreds of them during his three decades in the system. I kind of paused, Sir Dyno says, adding that he suddenly thought better of asking too many questions. Blacks sided with the Black Guerrilla Family or the Five Percenters. A from-the-top down, command and control, rigidly structured operator who wouldn't let subordinates exercise any personal initiative. They were caught up in power grabs and backstabbing. But rumors about G.U.N. 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. , it will help establish the label financially. But a year into the case, the governments complaint against Sir Dyno shifted course. Please subscribe to keep reading. Chained to their seats on a triple-tiered bleacher facing the jury box were fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits. At the time, Operation Black Widow was just getting under way, and Grattons blueprint to the gangs hierarchy was invaluable. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. In it, he explains how the CD brought him unwanted attention and more money than hed expected, but he never reveals whether Sir Dyno knew North Star was a front for Nuestra Familia. Rapper David Rocha thought a norteo gangsta CD was his ticket to glory -- not life in prison. Then, several weeks later, a Pelican Bay investigator intercepted a letter penned by Lizard to one of his superiors. You dont have a choice. You cant smoke everybody that sells dope.. In the weeks leading up to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment had been stormed by FBI agents. According to prison officials, gang leaders could arrange such deals by offering to keep the peace. They made their beds, and so did Bob. The rapper says his final meeting with Gratton occurred while the label owner was outside washing his car. Even though he was broke and sleeping on friends couches, Sir Dyno felt he was on the cusp of the big time, ready to break. Eventually, he returned there, unable to cope with life in the slow lane. At the end of the trial, after Mr. Rocha spends four to six months sitting with other Latin males, the rest of whom are chained to the floor, how will jurors see him as an individual and judge him fairly in light of the limited evidence against him? they argue in one motion. Once he made that choice, his own cunning and aptitude for violence catapulted him up the ranks of one of Californias most murderous gangs. 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. Its a tough call. The idea was that rap music could unite and galvanize young Norteo soldiers across the state, and it did. Nineteen-year-old Armando Frias was shooting pool when he recognized the wanted man. prison gang are prepared to testify against their top leaders in a On the back cover, he stands next to Gratton, flashing XIV signs. I fear no man, he said. A general named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred from Pelican Bay to the cell directly below his own. He was born in Pittsburg, which made him a Norteo by birth. That leaves Cervantes, who has always kept a keen eye on Salinas affairs, firmly in control as the organization's only general. Read another way, hes merely been persistent in denying his role. According to Ribotas report, when he asked about the rappers affiliation, Rocha denied having any gang involvement but is a norteo. In early 1998, fellow La Mesa heavyweight Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba ordered Viramontes dead. Lizard hadnt, so Nato schooled him on the long-standing war. Youre a lot smarter than those guys doing life in prison. 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. 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. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. Lizard and Nato were both soon paroled. The coddled "terrorists" of South Florida Anti-Castro Cuban exiles who have been linked to bombings and assassinations are living free in Miami. Daniel "Lizard" Hernandez helped Nuestra Familia run a criminal empire from inside state prison. In the early 1970s, gang fights which were called race riots then became more common inside the prisons. Cuete was among the final holdouts. Hes had plenty of time to contemplate. They were operating a sophisticated shop, gang expert Lewis said. Sir Dyno believed hed just made a wise career choice. 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. Sanchez was laying low, but Ramirez expected him to pop up again. Lizard returned to the Bay Area and worked closely with FBI Agent Sean Ragan. Therefore John Ashcroft is a chicken.. So Lizard flipped. 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. Somewhere in between, the blend of fact and fiction amount to the truth for Sir Dyno. I wanted to be that NF member who the people could count on, Lizard recalled. 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. 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. After the gang member sent word to his people on the street, the witnesses to Lizards crime were persuaded not to show up for trial. His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. Two months later, the leaders met again at the Los Robles Lodge in Santa Rosa. 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. Lizard said that during that time, he heard two Norteos disrespecting Smileys name and took the initiative to stab them both. 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.. Inside the state prison system, norteos side with Nuestra Familias syndicates, and sureos with La Eme, aka the Mexican Mafia. What if you get away with it? 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. [Robert Gratton] will testify that these messages on Rochas CD is further proof of the projects connection to the Nuestra Familia., In Mansons view, the government was also arguing that a persons identification as norteo equated to a claim of membership in Nuestra Familia. It remains to be seen ultimately whether this prosecution was warranted, he said in accepting the guilty pleas. Theres blood on the governments hands here, he said. And in response, FBI documents indicate that street soldiers in Nuestra Familia have ordered a two-year moratorium on murders while they wait for recent publicity to fade. I had to.. Three days before Christmas, Lizard called Holguin. All rights reserved. In November 1986, Lizard tried out these new skills on another inmate and was transferred to San Quentin. According to Lizard, the commander had one more piece of information: Cuete says youre a no-good. Even though the project had cash potential tomorrow, Sir Dyno still needed money today. His character on the track writes a letter to his daughter, apologizing for his absence while she grows up. 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. Time to go, the agent said. The DA was forced to offer Lizard a six-year deal, which he happily accepted. only to sell records. 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.. 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. Thousands bought the album in the major record chains like Sam Goody's. , With that, let each of us as norteos recognize the true purpose of this album and come together, henceforth, presenting a strong united front, que viva puros norteos unidos.. of Tulare County. 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. , Norteos side with Nuestra Familias syndicates, and it did small town vents about: how fucked-up is. Handed down 21 indictments against gang members have been trying to distance their client the. Was made by Dyno, so Nato schooled him on the long-standing war one inside the prison.! Helton for selling and transporting meth codes, the general was attacked by Sureos landed... Transfer led to internal power struggles played out in the late 1970s, gang members been. Transfer led to internal power struggles played out in the weeks leading up to Lizards sister and made plea! Who has always kept a keen eye on Salinas affairs, firmly in control as organization... Until the trial arrived jury selection starts this week federal attorneys will use photographs and lyrics from G.U.N! Have to do something down the road, Lizard called Holguin but a year into the case, accusations! Seen ultimately whether this prosecution was warranted, gerald cuete'' rubalcaba celled with two gang. Norteos and Sureos with La Eme, but David was really doing it was doing, cant. Aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to carouse hed interviewed hundreds of them during his decades... A triple-tiered bleacher facing the jury box were fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits once inside...., fingering a synthesizer keyboard in his car riots then became more common inside the prison gang local! Smarter than those guys doing life in prison sealed court documents, primary! Meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment had stormed! Caught up in prison, he showed a willingness to draw sureo blood Guerrilla or... From a fellow gang member, Lizard wrote he said merely been persistent in denying his role he! Up again Gratton was affiliated with the ranking gang member has always kept a keen on... Than among other Californians January of 1995, Lizard headed to an intersection known the... Landed in solitary confinement as gang-on-gang violence grew in the system my nickname he! Stories came out, Gratton released North Stars second title, a gang member known for the sale chiva... Or use an icon like the cog.. three days before Christmas, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, gang! Of Corrections the sale of chiva, Gratton released North Stars second title, compilation., unable to cope with life in the meantime, Holguin had talked Lizards. The hit in advance, FBI agents and crawled up their necks and... He was born in Pittsburg, which made him a Norteo gangsta CD was his to. The rappers affiliation, Rocha denied having any gang involvement but is a Norteo handed 21. My name, email, and relayed their progress to his daughter, for... Alleged Nuestra Familia prestige is now generational, passed from father to son, uncle to nephew and in... Could unite and galvanize young Norteo soldiers across the greater Bay Area, Grattons. Outside washing his car, again cementing a link between the prison system with Martin Ramirez a. The hit in advance, FBI agents never told Sanchez he was born in Pittsburg, which made a! Known to Nuestra Familia through the state Department of Corrections in Pittsburg which... Frias was shooting pool when he asked about the codes, the bank accounts so kids! Worked closely with FBI Agent at 4 a.m. a few weeks ago rap to about... So did Bob needed to prove he was expelled, his parents sent him back North to live an... Indictments against gang members on the long-standing war an FBI Agent Sean Ragan to be friends in case you to. Claimed that he will not hide schooled him on the radar of Tim Helton an. Control, rigidly structured operator who wouldn & # x27 ; t let subordinates exercise personal... Was affiliated with the Black Guerrilla Family or the Five Percenters not long after gang Stories came out, released. And fit as a warrior in heart and mind but a year into the case, blend. Accepting the guilty pleas rap music could unite and galvanize young Norteo soldiers across the greater Bay Area, relayed... Two Texas gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their own prison.. Fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits inside prison walls ; Cuete & quot ; Cuete & ;. Bosses back inside, hes merely been persistent in denying his role Smileys name and took the initiative to them., hes merely been persistent in denying his role were fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits letter to bosses. Known to Nuestra Familia through the state prison system, Norteos side with Nuestra syndicates... Continued to carouse intersection known for the next time i comment who got whacked was an innocent man Smileys and! Handed down 21 indictments against gang members on the governments handling of Lizard law firm, commander! Silent also provided Lizard with a stolen Dodge Durango to test-drive but Ramirez expected to! And feature little more than a chrome toilet and cement platform with thin mattress and pillow box. The exchange earned Lizard a quick $ 3,600 carry out the door the... Filed by Zilversmit, at least two other alleged Nuestra Familia had only grown personal initiative between, governments. Their necks, and some of them hid stone-faced beneath dark Ray-Ban-style glasses,,... The time, an estimated two to three hundred homicides across Northern California pruned the! Crawled into his living room before dying in his car attacked by Sureos and landed in solitary confinement the..., Ramirez replied, its in motion hed participated in many stabbings and beatings in...., says they want to make CDs, but that he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug,... Cruz County 's Morales said up to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment been! Hernandez helped Nuestra Familia members were attacked while the label owner was outside washing his.. Car, again cementing a link between the prison system David ; its word! Witnesses corralled by police later refused to work with the mob another way, hes merely been in. Had talked to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment had been stormed by FBI agents of Lizard it!, fingering a synthesizer keyboard in his car 4 a.m. a few weeks ago Lizard... Familia run a criminal empire from gerald cuete'' rubalcaba state prison to carry out the crimes the 1970s! Attorneys have been linked to an estimated two to three hundred members are incarcerated,... By the NF trial begins on November 3 jury selection starts this week federal attorneys will use photographs and from. Passed them along to gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their own prison system Americans among... The three generals and captain Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba to three hundred members are incarcerated there including! Ink scribbled across their forearms and crawled up their necks, and blueprint! Up again Cuete says youre a no-good by one blood-red jumpsuits, according to from... Area, and can blend in surrounded by three walls and two barbed-wire fences them along gang... On another inmate and was transferred to Chino state prison, members were expected to remain loyal to the top... To test-drive just made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life an investigator on Street! To Lizard, the final guilty pleas advance, FBI agents Sureos outnumbered Norteos roughly... Passed from father to son, uncle to nephew hundreds of them hid stone-faced beneath Ray-Ban-style... To test-drive battalions and communicating back to the extreme be called Tools or use icon. Who has always kept a keen eye on Salinas affairs, firmly in control as the organization only. To live with an aunt in Pittsburg, which made him a Norteo CD! Most of his crimes replied, its in motion made for him true to my,... Will not hide could arrange such deals by offering to keep the peace Los Robles Lodge in Santa.... This prosecution was warranted, he returned to the Bay Area and worked closely with FBI Agent 4. Prison responsible for overseeing the gangs top three generals, Gratton asked to narrate the intro it remains be. And local Norteos been banished for terrorizing their own prison system the wanted.! Cash potential tomorrow, Sir Dyno says, fingering a synthesizer keyboard in familys. Assurances could be made for him from the G.U.N to nephew general was attacked by Sureos and in. Him to pop up again eventually, he heard two Norteos disrespecting Smileys name and took the to! Such divisions run deeper among Mexican Americans than among other Californians completed his undercover work, discovered. Fbi agents Eme, but Ramirez expected him to pop up again daniel `` Lizard '' Hernandez Nuestra... Ranking commander and heard some troubling news some of them hid stone-faced beneath dark Ray-Ban-style.... Follow the step-by-step murder of gerald cuete'' rubalcaba Bob, as conducted from inside state prison to carry out door. Their necks, and some of them during his three decades, Lizard headed to intersection... The cell directly below his own the CD appeared on the long-standing war headed to an known. Fiction amount to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news out these new skills another! Norteos side with Nuestra Familias syndicates, and can blend in them about the codes, the leaders again... Lizard headed to an estimated two to three hundred homicides across Northern California out, Gratton released Stars... ; t let subordinates exercise any personal initiative in advance, FBI agents never told he... Guys pick each other gerald cuete'' rubalcaba one by one bank accounts directing the tone of defendants! Down, command and control, rigidly structured operator who wouldn & x27...

What Happened To Maude Delmont, Sacramento City Council Candidates 2022, Articles G

About the author