Salcido was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Dzubay said that although resisting arrest is usually a misdemeanor, authorities elevated it to a felony because an enhancement charge alleged she committed her crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang.. "They almost become complicit in it," he said. Thirteen defendants have pleaded guilty. The end result was the creation of federal and state factions of the gang that continue to lock horns. Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American . Lock [20] Operation Knockout 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. Experts say the new guidelines were designed to provide outside checks and balances for the FBI without hindering agents' ability to do their jobs. FBI records indicate that he failed to record or report on phone calls with gang members and he disappeared without telling his handlers. The FBI's Operation Black Widow resulted in arrests and indictments of 150 members of Nuestra Familia gang. For months, gang investigators from the California Department of Justice, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Salinas Police Department, the Monterey County Gang Task Force and the FBI worked to prepare arrest warrants for more than 40 high-ranking members of the gang in Salinas and nearby counties. [8] Renewed organization Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Huerta is known among gang members as the wife of Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, one the Nuestra Familia"s top leaders serving a life sentence in a Colorado "supermax" prison. Most of the defendants are headed to Monterey County court, where they will face drug, gang, weapons and possible conspiracy charges. The operation began in 1997 under the leadership of the FBI and involved nearly 30 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the state Department of Corrections; five district attorneys' offices and police departments of San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Salinas, San Jose, Visalia, Modesto, Tracy, Stockton and Watsonville, among others. Robert Sosa, at the time Nuestra Familia's General (or supreme commander), was man- dated to administer these resources to further collective interests but had in fact embezzled more than US$100,000 from the group's accounts. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California has not followed: What should you do? If he is going to betray one group the gang what's going to stop him from betraying the second the government?". The gang has strict categories of military-style membership ranks, ranging from a Category One member, who might strive to be the "regiment commander" of a city, to Category Three, one of only three positions on the gang's governing board in Pelican Bay. The defendants charged in the alleged racketeering conspiracy include the following: 18 U.S.C. If I fall, avenge me. Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said Huerta has a previous felony assault conviction, giving her one strike under Californias Three Strikes law. The federal faction didnt approve of the treaty but the state side entered into it anyways, prompting a deep-seated conflict that continues to play out. Law enforcement authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, and dozens of firearms. You have a potential disaster waiting to happen," Cohen said. He later told a federal grand jury that law enforcement agents had not arrested the gang members earlier because prosecutors and the task force wanted to gather more evidence in the murder conspiracy. Hanrahan, 39, is currently in Pelican Bay State Prison serving a 13-year sentence on drug charges. In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indictment|indicted on RICO (law)|racketeering charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders while confined in Pelican Bay . The defendants are scheduled to make initial federal court appearances before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Nathanael Cousins and U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Sallie Kim today. San Francisco, CA 94102, San Francisco: (415) 436-7200 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 prisonin Colorado. If it comes to it we have no choice but if we have a choice in the matter, then let's make it the right choice. By 2007, three dozen of the gangs leaders and associates were arrested and charged with conspiracy in the Valley Star case that is still being tried in a Sacramento federal court. A locked padlock We're going to take care of it. The NF is alleged in the indictment to be a criminal enterprise that was created to organize, protect, discipline, profit from, and maintain the allegiance of gang members on the streets of and within custodial facilities in California. Among the six men and women indicted March 10 on charges of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana for the gang were Castroville resident Carolyn Huerta, as well as Salinas residents Robert Bubba Hanrahan, Juan Wino Gallegos and Rebecca Guzman. [21] Renewed organization For the FBI, infiltrating such an organization from the outside was virtually impossible. Others arrested include Castroville residents Dakota Vernon Casperson and Sheena Nicole Casperson. [20] Cervantes' rise marked the first time in decades that the Norteos had a single leader at the helm of their criminal organization. Following that, the television news show " 60 Minutes " asked if a prison exists that can actually isolate the hardened criminal leaders. He was convicted of. In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders while confined in Pelican Bay. According to court documents, high-ranking Nuestra Familia members Salvador Castro, Jr. and Raymond Lopez used contraband cell phones from inside Fresno County's Pleasant Valley State Prison to . [18] The spark that led to the ongoing war between Nuestra Familia and members of the Mexican Mafia involved a situation in 1965 in which a member of La eMe stole a pair of shoes from a Northerner at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy. A spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chair of a House committee currently investigating the FBI's use of criminals as informants, says the FBI is now "in the process of doing a complete review of the way they handle informants.". If its criminal to believe in the power of love, I am a criminal, Gracia declared to local news media. To that end, he announced the debut Thursday of a county narcotics and gang task force overseen by the states Department of Justice. Of 44 arrest warrants obtained, 37 warrants ended with arrests Thursday. It is clear they have hard and fast rules, and those who run afoul are met with intimidation and violence that spills into our communities," said DEA Special . Both pleaded guilty in separate cases. Under the guidelines, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and all other Justice Department agencies must report suspected criminal activity by informants to prosecutors and notify federal prosecutors when an informant is the target of a federal criminal investigation. Upon being paroled after serving more than six years for assault, he would become a paid informant and would not be prosecuted for racketeering in the current federal case in San Francisco, according to his agreement with the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office. U.S. Attorney Steven Gruel declined to comment on whether the informant might lose his protection from prosecution, because Hernandez, by his own admission, violated terms of the agreement in which he said he would not lie to his handlers, commit new crimes, or keep any illegally earned assets. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Defense attorneys lost a motion to dismiss the case, based on a claim that the government was responsible for murder and assault because it essentially ran Nuestra Familia activities through its informant Daniel Hernandez, who commanded the gang's street operations outside of prison. The largest of the federal investigations was Operation Black Widow. The NF oversaw such regiments in Santa Clara County, Monterey County, Santa Cruz County, San Benito County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Contra Costa County, Alameda County, Solano County, San Joaquin County, Fresno County, Kings County, Tulare County, Madera County, Merced County, Kern County, Sacramento County, Yolo County, Humboldt County, Shasta County, Lassen County, Tehama County, Butte County, Yuba County, Sutter County, Lake County, Placer County, and Sonoma County, as well as in Salinas Valley State Prison, Pelican Bay State Prison, Pleasant Valley State Prison, California State Prison - Solano, California State Prison - Sacramento, and High Desert State Prison. She previously covered D.C. politics and California lawsuits for McClatchy's publications, including the Sacramento Bee, as a national real-time reporter. The Bay Areas top federal prosecutor announced a sweeping array of indictments targeting the notorious Nuestra Familia prison gang, boasting that a five-year operation had culminated in a takedown of the organizations leadership responsible for an expanse of drug trafficking and brutal street violence spanning Northern California. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown and a host of officials announced the results of the action Thursday. "Informants cannot be monitored 24 hours a day," says Coulson, the former FBI commander. . Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. Hitt said agents tried to serve Guzman an arrest warrant in Salinas on Thursday but were unable to find her. Authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, as well as other drugs. 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. [24], Last edited on 27 February 2023, at 00:46, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "Prison Gangs (continued) - Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness", "Authorities arrest 11 key gang members in east Hillsborough", "Bust of gang offers hope for Dodge City immigrants", "Gangs are becoming a growing threat across Utah", "The Marietta Daily Journal - Ga Supreme Court upholds brothers murder convictions", "Special Issue: Gangs in the United States", "Federal indictments crack vast prison crime ring", "Gang raid targets Nuestra Familia in Salinas", Organized Crime in California Annual Report 2007-08, "New leadership, constitution for Nuestra Familia", "Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness", "Eight-month investigation yields 37 high-level arrests", "Nuestra Familia case: Details of biggest gang prosecution in Santa Clara County history", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nuestra_Familia&oldid=1141826410, Drug trafficking, extortion, robbery, homicide, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 00:46. Stats to follow: THE FEDERAL PROSECUTION. An official website of the United States government. Alberto Larez, 45, known in Salinas as "Bird," was taken into custody Thursday morning at his residence in . When confronted about unauthorized trips, Hernandez said he slipped away without permission to play golf in Stockton. Blood in the Fields also documents the history of Operation Black Widow, the FBI's questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the Nuestra Familia, along with its compromised informants and the turf wars it created with local law enforcement agencies. In the aftermath of Operation Black Widow, the five highest ranking leaders of Nuestra Familia were transferred to a federal supermaximum prison in Florence, Colorado. By removing violent actors and crime drivers from the streets, we make our neighborhoods safer.. Hernandez, who grew up in Pittsburg in Contra Costa County, has a long and violent criminal history, committing armed assaults, admitting conspiring to murder a former gang member in San Jose in 1999 and to talking with fellow gang members about killing two Santa Clara County prosecutors. Further, the indictment describes the appointment by these leaders of NF members to positions of power over hierarchical and paramilitary structures called regiments, imposed on its gang members operating on the streets in California. 4 Nuestra Familia gang members face life after, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), 4 Nuestra Familia gang members face life after indictment from Operation Valley Star, Avalanche engulfs two stories of Tahoe apartment building; evacuations are ordered, Nursing school admission can be a long wait in California. The message that we are continuing to put out there is that if you think you are going to try and fill the vacuum (left by the arrests), if you are going to choose to move with the gangs and commit gang crimes, then youre going to pay a price. The operation was conducted with the help of a highly connected inside source -- Daniel Hernandez, the street general who had confirmed that the green light . U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California, Indictment Describes the Prison Gangs Nexus of Power Overseeing Thousands of Gang Members Throughout California, The Nuestra Familias General Council And Other Members And Associates Charged With Racketeering, Oakland Resident Charged With Fentanyl And Methamphetamine Sales In Tenderloin, East Bay Resident Found Guilty Of Attempting To Help Smuggle Cocaine Through Bay Area Airports, San Jose Man Sentenced To More Than 16 Years Following Jury Convictions For Meth Trafficking And Gun Charges. The arrests made yesterday, most significantly the arrests of the Nuestra Familia leadership, will severely cripple the ability of this criminal enterprise (and) disrupt the communications and organization structure of a criminal network that has terrorized our neighborhoods for far too long.. A high-ranking Nuestra Familia gang leader from Salinas was arrested this week in an FBI takedown of one of the gang's largest street regiments, federal officials said. In early 2008, Hanrahan figured into local headlines when his girlfriend Sara Gracia was named to a Salinas police advisory commission, causing an uproar within the Police Department and with the public. Marshal Service, with the assistance of the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office, and the San Jose Police Department, and with support from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, Antioch Police Department, Campbell Police Department, Fremont Police Department, Kings County Sheriffs Office, Monterey County Sheriffs Office, Mountain View Police Department, Sacramento Police Department, Salinas Police Department, Menlo Park Police Department, Santa Clara County Parole Department, Santa Clara County Probation Department, Santa Clara Police Department, Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, Modesto Police Department, San Francisco Police Department, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department, and Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. They do not have to get involved in this., Seave said the operation fits perfectly into the Ceasefire strategy. Official websites use .gov . If an individual is the target of a murder plot, you have to protect him.". 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. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 13 (June 30, 1986). In a $5 million crime-fighting effort dubbed Operation Black Widow, several Nuestra Familia members agreed to become FBI informants; they wanted protection when they found themselves on the gang's hit list, or they cut a deal as the government was about to indict them. Both investigations were led by the FBI and crippled the gangs operations after the arrests of dozens of Nuestra Familia members and associates from Monterey County. While the NF was composed of a relative few, it exercised control and wielded influence over thousands of subordinate gang members in counties and prisons throughout Northern California using such regiments. In a letter to the court, Frias said that a fellow gang member "pushed the matter (with Hernandez) and finally got the 'green light' for the murder .. . Operation Black Widow, where murders, assaults and drug trafficking were committed under the watch of two informants working for the government, fuels the debate. The indictments came after a three-year police investigation dubbed Operation Black Widow. Hanrahan was a Nuestra Familia leader from Salinas who oversaw drug-dealing crews in that city and conveyed orders to the Nuestra Familias Watsonville regiment. An ambitious multi-agency operation aimed at dismantling the Central Coast leadership structure of the Nuestra Familia gang resulted in more than three dozen arrests during sweeps early Thursday. The more time you can get on someone whos in the hierarchy the better it is, because its less of an incentive to the young ones who see this as a romantic choice of lifestyle, she said. Slew of child sexual abuse lawsuits could bankrupt the Diocese of Sacramento, bishop says, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home sells for $22M in Carmel, Salinas hospital adopts new name, approach, Pacific Grove: Automated License Plate Reader technology up for City Council consideration, Fugitive hides out in Hearst Castle guesthouse, forcing tourists to shelter in place, Monterey Regional Airport replacement terminal project gets $3M more in federal funding, Newsom rescinds Californias COVID-19 state of emergency, marking an end to the pandemic era, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Police joined the FBI in a multi-jurisdictional effort to bring down members of the gang after a crime spree through Watsonville and neighboring cities began in the fall of 2003. A decade ago, the FBI"s Operation Black Widow targeted the gang"s top leaders in Pelican Bay State Prison, as well as its out-of-prison regiment commanders for Salinas and other agricultural. [21] Nuestra Familia members often use the image of a sombrero with a machete as their gang symbol. Frias, 22, said that in addition to himself, others who received the guns included two gang members, who within months used the weapons in Salinas in a murder and an attempted murder. Lawsuits seeking more than $2 billion have been filed against the government by families of people murdered in the course of informant-based investigations. When agents learn a violent crime is being plotted, should they step in to prevent it and risk botching their undercover probe? [20], Eventually, three new generals came to power at Pelican Bay, yet two were demoted, leaving only David "DC" Cervantes as the highest-ranking member of the gang in California. Gov. Members of the organization are considered to have taken a "blood oath" to join the gang, and are considered lifelong participants. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California has not followed: What should you do? [20], In April 2010, federal and local law enforcement agencies concluded what was considered the most significant effort to dismantle the Central Coast leadership structure of Nuestra Familia. Before Ybarra and other gang members arrived at Gallegos' apartment, police parked a patrol unit near the building, according to police and FBI documents. Operation Knockout: Gang raid targets Nuestra, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), CIF State boys basketball playoffs: Monterey rallies for win over Kingsburg, Operation Knockout: Gang raid targets Nuestra Familia in Salinas, Avalanche engulfs two stories of Tahoe apartment building; evacuations are ordered, Nursing school admission can be a long wait in California. According to multiple gang experts, one main sticking point was the so-called End of Hostilities agreement in 2012 by Californias four main prison gangs, including the Nuestra Familia and their longtime rivals, the Mexican Mafia. But at the trials, questions about the FBI's ability to fully control its gangster informants are being raised: When the FBI hires a criminal to be its eyes and ears in the inner workings of a dangerous gang, can the informant cease to engage in criminal activity? "The problem in this case is all these guys have criminal histories, so you can't say they're not predisposed," he said. At the time of Operation Black Widow, law enforcement officials had estimated that Nuestra Familia was responsible for at least 600 murders in the previous 30 years. In a $5 million crime-fighting effort dubbed Operation Black Widow, several Nuestra Familia members agreed to become FBI informants; they wanted protection when they found themselves on. She had recently worked in a Salinas sandwich shop. ", Such is the risk the government runs in using criminal informants to help law enforcement efforts. As outlined in the indictment, membership in the NF involved a process of sponsorship, approval, and indoctrination. Robert Salonga is a Bay Area News Group reporter who covers criminal justice and public safety for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Among the crimes committed under Hernandez' leadership was the killing of a rival drug dealer. [19], Since the written constitution of the Norteos stated that the gang's leaders resided in Pelican Bay State Prison in California; the relocation of the five leaders led to turmoil among its members. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI (San Francisco, Sacramento, and Phoenix Divisions), the DEA, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Hernandez was a big catch. While the Mexican Mafia had initially been created to protect Mexicans in prison, there was a perceived level of abuse by members of La eMe towards the imprisoned chicanos from rural farming areas of Northern California. 1962(d) Racketeering Conspiracy. We will continue to look at these organizations structurally to disrupt and dismantle them., According to the indictment, the 17 racketeering defendants were members and associates of the Nuestra Familia (NF) prison gang, a violent and lucrative organization formed in the 1960s. Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. According to the indictment, NF members and associates were involved in plots to kill 14 victims between April 2013 and July 2019 as part of the charged racketeering conspiracy. This civil war has been going on for quite a while, almost since the Black Widow convictions, said Julie Reynolds, a journalist who authored the book Blood in the Fields about the Black Widow case. "Brown Bob," had spent most of his life inside California's state prisons, rising to become one of the highest ranking members of Nuestra Familia, the notoriously vicious Northern California Latino prison gang. The FBI has declined to issue any comment on the Black Widow investigation. At one point in the transcript, Ramirez and Hernandez are talking about whether to beat up or kill the intended victim, and Ramirez remarks: "Might as well kill the mother -- if it's for a third strike." Outstanding warrants remain on seven unnamed people. A lot of the street violence in the past 10 years in Salinas and Watsonville and San Jose stems from this, and in the prison yards too.. Taped conversations indicated that on Nov. 1, 1998, they planned to proceed with the killings. According to the transcripts, the group discussed the purchase of black ski masks, gloves and walkie-talkies to be used for the hits, and even the type of bullets to be fired. The defendants, among whom several high-ranking members of both groups could be found, were responsible for 600+ murders. He could only participate in crimes approved by his FBI handlers, such as planned drug and gun purchases. The gangsters saw the vehicle as they approached and, according to the informant, postponed the attack. 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