Danny was telling me, But Im not a gang member,' Holguin said. attempts on two assistant district attorneys in Santa Clara No one who entered the system could safely walk alone. SANTA ROSA Several members of the notorious Nuestra Familia 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. 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. Even though the project had cash potential tomorrow, Sir Dyno still needed money today. Frias, a 22-year-old Salinas native, maintains that Hernandez, the informant, approved the "green light," the execution order, on Sanchez while working for the FBI. posters and CDs in his car, again cementing a link between the prison gang and local norteos. Jared Lewis, a former Modesto gang investigator, says the impact of G.U.N. The FBI believes the exchange earned Lizard a quick $3,600. 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. Since his first arrest, hes produced a new CD nearly every month. I was getting my game back, Lizard said. Its rise even exceeded the mushrooming growth of the greater California prison population. In April 2001, FBI agents, along with assistance from 24 local and state agencies, ended Operation Black Widow. 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.. There were three-way calls, where inmates from two different prisons called a gang member known as a gente on the outside, who held the phones together so they could talk. All norteos must unite with the determination to fight and challenge all those who oppose our unity and advancement toward equal justice. Im so afraid, oh my God/Dont take me away, he raps, slowly, to the jailers whove come for him. So far as you can trust anyone in a gang, hed trusted Cuete. Since prisoners cant mail one another, Lizard began writing Kayln Santiago, a friend from Boise. It probably aggravated the situation, and forced people to align, pick a side. But a year into the case, the governments complaint against Sir Dyno shifted course. Almost two decades later, Lizard still recalls the clarity of that moment. Daniel "Lizard" Hernandez helped Nuestra Familia run a criminal empire from inside state prison. Three days before Christmas, Lizard called Holguin. Cuete was among the final holdouts. Enter https://www.police1.com/ and click OK. Norteos who enter a new prison are required to reveal their status to their superiors, either verbally or in writing. They were, according to the government, members of Nuestra Familia, Northern Californias most notorious and ruthless prison gang. Fourteen of those charged in federal court in Los Angeles and Santa Ana . 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. A federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members, including the three generals and captain Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba. Inside, he was greeted by FBI agents. He was more than just a studio rapper, he says. Sir Dyno was born. Under federal law, its rather easy to be declared a coconspirator in a RICO case. [21] Silent also provided Lizard with a stolen Dodge Durango to test-drive. Inside the state prison system, norteos side with Nuestra Familias syndicates, and sureos with La Eme, aka the Mexican Mafia. Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. Finally, brothers were required to learn sign language so they could make the most of the one hour outside their cells. Rapper David Rocha thought a norteo gangsta CD was his ticket to glory -- not life in prison. Lizard recalls Nato asking him why he claimed Sureo, and if hed heard the history of the gang conflict. 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.. Hernandez has conducted himself as a cooperating witness with great dignity and character, a memo from the US Attorneys office stated. When the five were transferred out of California, Gov. For that reason, he explains, he turned to dealing methamphetamine. If he went back to Pelican Bay, his elders would be upset to see him. He rapped about how much money hed make, how famous hed get, how many women he could tag, how many people hed shoot. Please subscribe to keep reading. Gratton, already growing weary with the gang after learning that one of his closest allies, Robert Brown Bob Viramontes, had been murdered outside his Campbell home, ignored Rubalcabas letters. Symbols and culture I mean, I would think not, but you better have some realness to it if youre going to rap that way., Despite his marketed image, Sir Dyno now claims hes never known anyone who died from gang warfare, never had anyone close to him go off to prison. Everybody knows that. The job seemed like a good fit. A general named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred from Pelican Bay to the cell directly below his own. He says theres a street code: You dont ever ask too many questions, and both men stuck to that code. During his time with Nuestra Raza, Gratton learned the boot camp basics: how to make shanks, decode letters, and memorize the NF Constitution. Thousands bought the album in the major record chains like Sam Goody's. Lizard said he wrote to a member of the Black Guerrillas whom hed met in San Quentin. It was his way or the highway. Sir Dyno wanted to make a name for himself, Lewis says, so he sold his soul to the devil. I see the reality of things now and now that Ive gone through that, theres, like, no glory in it, you know?. The cases were spread across Northern California. In early 1998, fellow La Mesa heavyweight Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba ordered Viramontes dead. And what had germinated inside the prisons was now blooming all across California. 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. The Nuestra Familia trial is expected to last four to six months, and the government will call seventy witnesses. And frankly, heres a guy whos committed numerous violent crimes, and hes getting a free pass. The red line also called for (NF) lieutenant David Cervantes to be put on retirement status. I was all ready to go, Lizard recalled later. Blacks sided with the Black Guerrilla Family or the Five Percenters. 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 hindsight, the move only solidified the stature of race-based gangs, said Daniel Vasquez, a former San Quentin prison warden and gang investigator. At any one time, an estimated two to three hundred members are incarcerated there, including the gangs top three generals. Inside Corcoran State Prison, Lizard reported to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news. Prisoners are permitted reading materials, including legal documents in manila folders, which are hands-off to the guards who routinely search the cells. 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. Cuete took a shine to Lizard because Lizard was a stickler for detail, one police investigator said last year. He leaves behind a 3-year-old son of his own, but vows that the cycle of violence ends with him. Sir Dyno, however, isnt charged with any individual crime, just one count of RICO conspiracy, and his connection to that crime seems to be largely related to his performance on Generations of United Norteos. He crawled into his living room before dying in his familys arms. The former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez. In the logic of the Chicano intrastate rivalry, there are norteos and sureos, and even if youre not running with the corner gang, youre still vulnerable to getting whacked by your enemy. Any brother who steps outside and then returns is automatically put on probation. Years earlier, a young Norteo paroled from Pelican Bay had given a Santa Rosa detective a lead into the prison gang. He has since repudiated his former gang life, and spends his time writing and speaking to law enforcement gatherings about prison gangs. They knew I had them., He still hasnt been reunited with his family. I told him, Listen. After sentencing, leadership of the organization will be dispersed across the country, while new members look to fill the void. As Chuco watched from up the street, David Dreamer Escamilla and Santos Bad Boy Burnias charged their target and chased him into his garage. Once he made that choice, his own cunning and aptitude for violence catapulted him up the ranks of one of Californias most murderous gangs. Its founding fathers adopted the phrase Blood in, blood out, and wrote a fifty-page constitution setting out the organizations bylaws. 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. Over an ominous keyboard drone, he speaks deliberately, as if issuing a UN speech: The primary purpose and goals of this album is to promote unity amongst each and every one of us as norteos. Hed picked up an ounce of weed at Rohnert Park and smoked a few joints with his buddy Israel Silent Mendoza. 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. A huge warehouse complex project is before the American City Council. The CD had been funded in 1998 from Pelican Bay prison by the top Nuestra Familia general, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba. 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. And most of it hung on Lizard. Arresting the majority of the defendants was easy; they were already in prison. But since prison officials scanned all mail that wasnt legal mail, Lizards challenge was to create an even more surefire way to communicate. Later, when Heltons team arrested an alleged Nuestra Familia member named Vidal Spider Fabela during a traffic stop, they found G.U.N. He said that was where he picked up the nickname Lizard, from friends who admired his clandestine nature.. CD to argue that Sir Dyno knew Gratton was affiliated with the mob. October 10, 1976. I was already doing what I was doing, you know? A member of the Mexican Mafia, Ortiz was cast out of the criminal organization in the mid-1990s after angering . Hernandez never belonged to either group until he ended up in prison. That was enough to send Holguin back to Lizards hotel room to make an arrest. 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. FBI agents did not respond to interview requests. After he was expelled, his parents sent him back north to live with an aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to. By 1965, Sureos outnumbered Norteos by roughly seven to one inside the prison system. Hed loaded up the hit list and was feuding with two of the generals while angling for a promotion. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. It was during that interrogation Sir Dyno says he first learned about Grattons connections to Nuestra Familia. Therefore, David is an NF member or associate. For the next three months, he made his bones among Norteos by slashing Sureo inmates, brothers hed once shouldered with. He did not return letters seeking comment for this article. Lizard wrote Big Smiley a wila, or small letter the size of a gum wrapper. Following his arrival at the jail, Dyno was interviewed by Thomas Ribota, another Modesto detective. It gives you a sense of purpose. Quoting the prophet Jeremiah from the Old Testament, Bishop Manuel Cruz, a Cuban emigre himself, passionately said: "Woe to me if I do not care for my people and hear their cries." Chalk it up as a loss, just let it go, and move on. Dec. 22, 2021 5 AM PT. They werent following what NF was about, he said. If the underbosses suspected that he was the target of an investigation, they might shun him or worse. Lexipol. , it will help establish the label financially. 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]. In the eyes of the law, that would make Sir Dyno a real-life gangster. And in every fashion when necessity called for it, I wanted the NF hierarchy to recognize my loyalty and dedication to NF. According to Lizard and FBI informants, the accounts held up to $25,000. 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 quite the impression he wanted to make. Copyright 2023 Police1. 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. After all, race-based prison gang violence dominates Californias prison system, according to a 2002 report from the California State Department of Justice. Theres nothing to prepare. In NF, they dont want you to be friends in case you have to do something down the road, Lizard wrote. He is also a consultant to a number of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in this ever-changing war against gang violence. 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. Preparing is something someone whos trying to hide their guilt would do, he says, fingering a synthesizer keyboard in his studio. By the time Dyno got to the specially constructed federal courtroom, he was fifteen minutes behind schedule. Lizard initially followed his script and pushed for peace, according to the transcripts. How could he go back in with Cuete wanting him dead? None of these other [Nuestra Familia members] have a thing to say about [Sir Dyno], Manson says. Eventually, he returned there, unable to cope with life in the slow lane. 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. Finally, he was going to San Francisco to testify. Lizard swung his weight around hard. 15 year old Carlos "Casper" Silva a Preston parolee is arrested murders 3 people witin a seven week span on behalf of Nuestra familia. 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. But on his way out the door, the veteran agent made Lizard an offer. If he stayed in Corcoran, hed have to watch his back for young Norteos. 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. Along with Crooked and other Bay Area rhymers, the Darkroom Familia took off as a twelve-member supergroup, touring across the West on their own dime, all of them touting the street thug lifestyle. He was all business, all the time.. When his handlers shook him from his slumber, Lizard felt relieved, not irritated. Click here to read the Nuestra Familia constitution. Together, Nato and Lizard robbed drug dealers, committed petty crimes, and raised funds for their carnals back inside. He smoked pot and tasted alcohol. I fear no organization. Two months later, the leaders met again at the Los Robles Lodge in Santa Rosa. 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.. Like other major prison gangs, including the Aryan Brotherhood and the Mexican Mafia, Nuestra Familia issues orders from its power base in the Security Housing Unit of Pelican Bay. The deep trouble in which he now finds himself has everything to do with his performance on a gang-funded rap CD titled Generations of United Norteos Till Eternity. 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 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. 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. Or were they? 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. If you continue to listen to them, then youll be in there for life, too.'. 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 more shock you had in your raps, at the time, the more you sold. They were drooling, Lizard later wrote. Gratton had been deployed by his bosses to run the gangs Zapatista crew, which operated in the Modesto, Tracy, and Turlock areas. Then at fourteen, Hernandez began to glimpse a different world. Not long after Gang Stories came out, Gratton released North Stars second title, a compilation called Cuete. Though vastly outnumbered, Nuestra Familia distinguished itself by organizing its troops along strict paramilitary lines. uncovered a hierarchy at Pelican Bay State Prison responsible for 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 Lizard was paroled to the outside world on May 18, 2000. Rocha still did not understand the charge or why he was being placed into custody. 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