His words are those of a man still prepared for war. Lizard claimed Norteo. I know theres some things you dont ask., Dyno claims thats the moment he realized hed been duped and would never see his cash. But Wino rejected Lizard. Its the life story of a petty hood who reached his full criminal potential only afterentering the California prison system. I was already doing what I was doing, you know? Thats when Lizard began his career as a rider an inmate prone to acting violently toward fellow inmates. It was again explained to Rocha that Kelly was an FBI agent, and that Rocha was being placed under arrest for RICO conspiracy. I was showing them everything., Today, Lizard said he flipped because he was tired of people pushing their own agendas. Lizard said he attacked Huero-T as he slept, pummeling him into a bloody mess until guards pulled him off. Days later, Big Smiley sent Lizard his own wilas, as well as books on Chicano history. I cant muscle the guy because I dont know what hes involved with, he reasoned, so either I make an issue of it and make an enemy I dont want, or just let it go. While working as an informant, he tested positive for drug use. He always offered to learn more and do more to serve the organization. Since then, district attorneys from five NorCal counties had teamed up to share unsolved homicide files on dead Norteos. In fact, the 31-year-old gangsta rapper, whose real name is David Rocha, wanted nothing more than to distance himself from his codefendants. On one slow-burn track, Sir Dyno raps in a stoned vibrato: Today when I got up I knew it was a good day/Got on my red shirt, Dickies, and Im on my way., After the initial press run, Gratton restocked stores with an additional 1,000 CDs. Lizard got away with it, and when Big Smiley emerged, he personally sponsored Lizard into Nuestra Familia. 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. But as his FBI handlers dug further into Lizards tenure as their employee, they unraveled other disturbing facts that threatened to compromise the credibility of their star witness. Its as sensible as that East Coast-West Coast thing. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Even though hed participated in many stabbings and beatings in prison, hed avoided detection for most of his crimes. Whites joined the Aryan Brotherhood or Nazi Low Riders for protection. On the back cover, he stands next to Gratton, flashing XIV signs. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. The thought of slashing his cousin made no sense. According to Lizard, the commander had one more piece of information: Cuete says youre a no-good. But within a few months, Nato got pinched for robbery, and with his long rap sheet, he got 39 years. Once he made that choice, his own cunning and aptitude for violence catapulted him up the ranks of one of Californias most murderous gangs. 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. He took the gangs oath, Blood in, blood out, and rose to the rank of captain within a few 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. walls at Pelican Bay State Prison to carry out the crimes. The rationale for the federal case, officials said, was to cripple the gang's power base . I told him, I know exactly who you are,' Holguin recalled. Copyright 2023 This time, Goose brought bar charts to show drug production and expected net profits. Prosecutors remained high on their star witness, notwithstanding Agent Ragans conclusion: Mr. He told them about killing Brown Bob. They were caught up in power grabs and backstabbing. Hed began his criminal career as a teenage norteo gang member, pulling off smash-and-grab robberies of jewelry stores. 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. Now youre in the gang., Lizard still recalls what Nato told him on that day back in San Quentin: Primo, if the North and South go to war, I cant protect you just because youre my blood. In a memo to his colleagues, Helton talks about spotting G.U.N. 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. If Lizard wanted to buy it, Silent would ask only $15,000 cash. Grattons information cast a domino effect, eventually leading to 21 cooperating witnesses for the government. He was a loyal and merciless soldier until a foolish parole violation threatened to send him back to prison, where his own safety was in question. Youre hot, the underboss said. And he got what he wanted., Out only three months, G.U.N. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. To Sir Dyno and his attorneys, the report demonstrates his utter confusion under unbelievable circumstances. 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. That leaves Cervantes, who has always kept a keen eye on Salinas affairs, firmly in control as the organization's only general. was drawing the attention its makers craved, and then some. In his interview with FBI agents the next day, Gratton confessed hed concocted the idea for G.U.N. At Lizards behest, Crazy Girl opened two bank accounts and made deposits from gang soldiers who were required to remit 25 percent of their profits. Theyre trying to say that when I met Robert Gratton I started selling drugs for him, and to finance the G.U.N. 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. Not with NF.. And I got caught what I was doing. 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. I was doing it as a smokescreen. He smoked pot and tasted alcohol. 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. 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. Frias was not indicted in the federal case but was convicted of murdering Sanchez in a state case built on the FBI's investigation. You have entered an incorrect email address. 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. They were drooling, Lizard later wrote. It gives you a sense of purpose. 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. When his handlers shook him from his slumber, Lizard felt relieved, not irritated. CD, Lewis and Helton say. Holguin was well known to Nuestra Familia members hed interviewed hundreds of them during his three decades in the system. Transferred to Chino State Prison, he celled with two Texas gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their own prison system. His wife had declined to enter witness protection until the trial arrived. Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. All rights reserved. But on his way out the door, the veteran agent made Lizard an offer. They formed their own gang: Nuestra Familia our family. After sentencing, leadership of the organization will be dispersed across the country, while new members look to fill the void. Otherwise, he was free to go about his business. It would bring the most attention and the most sales. Lizard prepared to take the stand against Nuestra Familia. After all, race-based prison gang violence dominates Californias prison system, according to a 2002 report from the California State Department of Justice. Three leaders soon emerged at Pelican Bay, filling the ranks of the gang's mesa, or board of directors: David "DC" Cervantes of Chino, Jose "Huerito" Gonzalez and James "Conejo" Perez. Lizard said he shook the tail, but later needed to prove he was clean. In the eyes of the law, that would make Sir Dyno a real-life gangster. In August 1998, the CD appeared on the radar of Tim Helton, an investigator on Modestos Street Terrorism and Apprehension Team. At a hearing last month, Steven Gruel, US assistant attorney and Chief of Major Crimes, told the court that Sir Dynos limited role with Nuestra Familia made no difference under the law: It doesnt matter if you associate with a RICO enterprise for five years or five minutes; it still makes you part of the conspiracy.. Released from the Secured Housing Unit in August 1995, Lizard was chiseled and fit as a warrior in heart and mind. Looking to score one night in early 1994, Lizard headed to an intersection known for the sale of chiva. Not only was there one less Sureo, but Lizard also showed a knack for attacking without detection. A general named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred from Pelican Bay to the cell directly below his own. I even convinced the government that Im this crazy guy.. Lizard said Cuete asked him to establish a line of communication that couldnt be detected by guards. 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.. The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. This was our college, Lizard said. 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. In a way, its a compliment to me. That autumn, according to testimony from a fellow gang member, Lizard ordered seventeen stabbings. 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. He and his team of agents tore through Lizards hotel room, looking for evidence to send him back to the clink a bag of pot, a letter to a carnal, a bag of speed. Click here to follow the step-by-step murder of Brown Bob, as conducted from inside prison walls. In November 1998, he was pulled over on a traffic violation. 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 . 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.. A from-the-top down, command and control, rigidly structured operator who wouldn't let subordinates exercise any personal initiative. Nuestra Familia prestige is now generational, passed from father to son, uncle to nephew. But the rapper has faith the judicial process will work in his favor. 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. 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. We shared a common goal, and that goal was to be the very NF members who put the organization back on track.. If you ever want to help yourself, you can. There, Gratton was made a full-fledged Nuestra Familia member. Sir Dyno was born. A few weeks later, the rapper signed a new contract with Dog Day Records and quickly released an album called Gang Stories. Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. He was all business, all the time.. Former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernndez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristn and Tex Marn Hernndez. You can cancel at any time. All Gratton needed was a rapper. 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. Its estimated for every NF member, there are seven La Eme. 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. 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. 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. 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. Gratton had been deployed by his bosses to run the gangs Zapatista crew, which operated in the Modesto, Tracy, and Turlock areas. His middle-class Long Beach upbringing was spent golfing, surfing, and skateboarding. The cases were spread across Northern California. Symbols and culture How could he go back in with Cuete wanting him dead? But Lizards exploits show how prison policies adopted to control gangs such as Nuestra Familia may actually have helped them bloom. Later, when Heltons team arrested an alleged Nuestra Familia member named Vidal Spider Fabela during a traffic stop, they found G.U.N. FBI agents did not respond to interview requests. Lizard recalled feeling nothing in the aftermath of the hit. posters and CDs in his car, again cementing a link between the prison gang and local norteos. When you turn your back on all of that. 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. Zilversmit represents Armando Suave Heredia, a gang member arrested for ordering a successful hit on Salinas heroin dealer Ray Sanchez. 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. He just happened to have this talent, and he put this talent to use.. If you ever want to talk, call me. Zilversmit said the feds were preoccupied with preserving their investigation instead of saving lives. It always does., Even Judge Charles Breyer seemed to question the value of Operation Black Widow. Years earlier, a young Norteo paroled from Pelican Bay had given a Santa Rosa detective a lead into the prison gang. Even outside prison, members were expected to remain loyal to the gang. 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. If Sir Dynos case were only about lyrics, its likely the First Amendment would swiftly end the debate in his favor. 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. The history of that hit calls into question the governments handling of Lizard. But nowhere on the CD, or in the lyrics, do the words Nuestra Familia appear. For penance, Cuete was allegedly ordered to write an essay on the consequences of being a gossip. Lizards government handlers ultimately boasted that their prized informant delivered unprecedented effectiveness as a cooperating witness. According to a memo by prosecutors in the US Attorneys Office, his unshakable undercover effort will forever leave its mark in the history of law enforcement. Based on Lizards grand jury testimony alone, the US Attorneys office estimates that twenty Nuestra Familia members pleaded guilty, and five others were convicted in courts across Northern California. Silent also provided Lizard with a stolen Dodge Durango to test-drive. His FBI handlers had been clear: Talk down violence at all costs. You gotta understand, all these guys made their own choices, he said. That was their fuck-up. Cuete took a shine to Lizard because Lizard was a stickler for detail, one police investigator said last year. At the end of the day he gets to go home.. At any one time, an estimated two to three hundred members are incarcerated there, including the gangs top three generals. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. But life was still rough, he says, and drug deals and violence went down in front of his eyes, even if it was what he calls mostly high school stuff, kid stuff, stupid stuff. He admits to selling pot, but only small-time, just enough to support myself., From those experiences, he says, he extrapolated in his art, and began rapping in that netherworld of myth, that place where facts give way to the cushion of fiction, where arrogance and boasting overtake the narrative. Even though theyd heard about the hit in advance, FBI agents never told Sanchez he was marked for violence. Lizard wrote Big Smiley a wila, or small letter the size of a gum wrapper. 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. It sold, and he knew why. Frias used a pay phone to call another gang member, Roque Boxer Martinez, who said he would bring a .22 and meet Frias in the parking lot. Lizard recalls Nato asking him why he claimed Sureo, and if hed heard the history of the gang conflict. 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