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. Eager to shore up his status in Nuestra Familia, Lizard said, he soon stabbed Sureo Rudolpho Castillo in the throat, nearly killing him. Blacks sided with the Black Guerrilla Family or the Five Percenters. Cuete had gone power mad. It was a hell of an audience to keep waiting. gang activity in Northern California about six years ago. Lizard himself adamantly denied Zilversmits claims, insisting that he pressed for peace in the case of Sanchez. I kind of paused, Sir Dyno says, adding that he suddenly thought better of asking too many questions. At the end of the day he gets to go home.. SANTA ROSA Several members of the notorious Nuestra Familia In NF, they dont want you to be friends in case you have to do something down the road, Lizard wrote. Sir Dyno believed hed just made a wise career choice. Click here to follow the step-by-step murder of Brown Bob, as conducted from inside prison walls. You have entered an incorrect email address. The case grew out of information developed by Santa Rosa Police, The former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez. Hed turned his parents garage into a makeshift studio, recorded cassettes, and sold them at low-rider shows and East Bay record stores. One month later, he was visited by Louie Holguin, a special agent with the Department of Corrections who monitored parolees and prison gangs. The California Supreme Court is now reviewing a case that questions whether inmates can be segregated for their first sixty days at reception prisons such as San Quentin. All norteos must unite with the determination to fight and challenge all those who oppose our unity and advancement toward equal justice. 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. The idea was that rap music could unite and galvanize young Norteo soldiers across the state, and it did. Then at fourteen, Hernandez began to glimpse a different world. The CD had been funded in 1998 from Pelican Bay prison by the top Nuestra Familia general, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba. But Lizard played it cool. walls at Pelican Bay State Prison to carry out the crimes. Weeks later, the general was attacked by Sureos and landed in solitary confinement. That night, Holguin led a three-car caravan of police investigators, federal agents, and prison investigators to meet Lizard. Symbols and culture For the cover art, Sir Dyno says he told all his friends to tell their friends to show up at a park wearing their reds. That was enough to send Holguin back to Lizards hotel room to make an arrest. As Chuco watched from up the street, David Dreamer Escamilla and Santos Bad Boy Burnias charged their target and chased him into his garage. As a kid I didnt know anything but religion, he said. And there was ghosting a letter: using a Q-Tip to swab milk or urine to write out orders on a piece of paper. Inside, he was greeted by FBI agents. 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. Lizard hadnt, so Nato schooled him on the long-standing war. slated for Sept. 13 in San Francisco, is Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba By the time he turned 25, Dyno had carved his own niche as a Chicano gangsta rapper, mixing Spanish with English. He was more than just a studio rapper, he says. He was betraying these people hed come up with, people hed been close to. I was showing them everything., Today, Lizard said he flipped because he was tired of people pushing their own agendas. A few weeks later, the rapper signed a new contract with Dog Day Records and quickly released an album called Gang Stories. There was Henry "Happy" Cervantes, built like . Not long after Gang Stories came out, Gratton released North Stars second title, a compilation called Cuete. attempts on two assistant district attorneys in Santa Clara Danny was telling me, But Im not a gang member,' Holguin said. 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. The rationale for the federal case, officials said, was to cripple the gang's power base . 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. His words are those of a man still prepared for war. On his first day of freedom, according to Grattons account, a norteo named Big Smokey met him at the bus terminal, set him up with $5,000 in cash, a 9mm pistol, and a condom. 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. Gerald Marvin Rubalcaba of Visalia, age 45, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance Violation Parole: Felony Reckless Driving Evading P.O. The system certainly creates you, makes you decide. Hed proved he had the muscle to ascend within Nuestra Familia. Lizard first went to prison when he was nineteen. 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. Lizard got away with it, and when Big Smiley emerged, he personally sponsored Lizard into Nuestra Familia. But Lizard hadnt exactly gone straight. He says theres a street code: You dont ever ask too many questions, and both men stuck to that code. Not only was there one less Sureo, but Lizard also showed a knack for attacking without detection. In December of 2001, Daniel Hernandez became the highest-ranking member of the Nuestra Familia prison gang to cooperate with federal investigators. Instead, phone records and a confidential FBI source revealed that hed driven to a house in East San Jose, where hed bought two pounds of methamphetamine. In early 1998, fellow La Mesa heavyweight Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba ordered Viramontes dead. The only problem is the limiting of audience outside Northern California., After costs for radio spots and posters and printing, the plan estimated profits of $21,051 on the first 4,000 units. The red line also called for (NF) lieutenant David Cervantes to be put on retirement status. 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. 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. Like all Latino males incarcerated in California for the past three decades, Lizard was forced to choose a gang allegiance once inside prison. I told him, Listen. Hes turned his attention to rapping about what he knows, rather than what he fantasizes. But recently, Lizard spoke on the phone with her, discussing their new lives. "DC Cervantes is calling the shots," said J.R. Auten, a former gang investigator for state prisons and now a consultant for federal and state law enforcement. Cervantes added that hed already followed the couple to the courthouse. 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. That what I decided to do.. He was sentenced to 29 years to life in prison. Lo-fi beats backed simple, repetitive keyboard riffs. I didnt realize lyrics could be taken so seriously, he now says, claiming that he rapped for shock value on G.U.N. 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. He found his man in David Sir Dyno Rocha, then a 26-year-old budding rhymer and producer from Tracy. No one who entered the system could safely walk alone. Still Sir Dyno says he wasnt getting paid. The Nuestra Familia trial is expected to last four to six months, and the government will call seventy witnesses. Both were steeped in the Jehovahs Witnesses faith. At home, Sir Dyno says hes just waiting for the truth to come out, but the phrase emerges like one thats been worn out, a fortification against the harsher truth: He stands to lose everything. The rapper says his final meeting with Gratton occurred while the label owner was outside washing his car. 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. No one who got whacked was an innocent man. But at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. They pulled in young guys by the bushel.. The more shock you had in your raps, at the time, the more you sold. Snow-locked Highway 29 between Calistoga and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, CHP announced Friday afternoon. uncovered a hierarchy at Pelican Bay State Prison responsible for To the broke and ambitious rapper, the deal sounded too good to refuse. Shes not liking it too much. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. I dont rattle, he said. 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. Copyright 2023 In his interview with FBI agents the next day, Gratton confessed hed concocted the idea for G.U.N. The unit requires pin-drop silence from its inmates. One of the gangs living legends had recently been paroled. We cut off the head of the snake, but it will grow back, said Special Agent Holguin. Theres no reason Id want him to go down.. And with an ever-increasing prison population that only assures the continued growth of it and other gangs, the very segregation that bolstered the gangs strength appears irrevocable. It was during that interrogation Sir Dyno says he first learned about Grattons connections to Nuestra Familia. They need their cut, he said. His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. 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. Dyno has since expanded his own label, Darkroom Studios, starred in three independent movies, and penned a fictional autobiography about a gangster named Joaquin who takes up arms for the Zapatistas. He wanted to know what assurances could be made for him. I am just as dangerous as they are.. Like a religious convert eager to please his superiors, Lizards first efforts impressed his would-be peers. In his role as head of security, Cuete was responsible for stashing the groups original constitution among his legal papers, and keistering the gangs master hit list in his rectum, according to FBI documents. If it read Hello Love!, it was every eighth word. was drawing the attention its makers craved, and then some. Any brother who steps outside and then returns is automatically put on probation. I was all ready to go, Lizard recalled later. Using confidential informants, investigators said they've The job seemed like a good fit. He seems likely to face civil and/or criminal penalties for what appears to be at best mismanagement and at worst blatant corruption that. Today, the real Sir Dyno has five kids, a home in Tracy, and makes a living off CD sales, which he estimates at beyond 100,000 nationwide. He said he felt no jitters, nor did he question his loyalties to the brothers he was betraying. When you look back, it didnt help us like we thought it would. 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. who joined the FBI and other agencies in an investigation of street Sir Dynos lawyers argue that a group trial will taint the jurys perception of their client. To Sir Dyno and his attorneys, the report demonstrates his utter confusion under unbelievable circumstances. While Nuestra Familia is primarily a Chicano gang, membership sometimes extends to other Latinos as well as non-Latinos. But Lizards exploits show how prison policies adopted to control gangs such as Nuestra Familia may actually have helped them bloom. The DA was forced to offer Lizard a six-year deal, which he happily accepted. Citing the First Amendment, the DA chose not to pursue the case. 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. I see the reality of things now and now that Ive gone through that, theres, like, no glory in it, you know?. They were operating a sophisticated shop, gang expert Lewis said. Gratton had been deployed by his bosses to run the gangs Zapatista crew, which operated in the Modesto, Tracy, and Turlock areas. I was a soldier, and a good one.. I want to be with my family/but I killed a man yesterday.. Theyre trying to say that when I met Robert Gratton I started selling drugs for him, and to finance the G.U.N. Once paroled, Lizard then served as Nuestra Familias highest-ranking member outside prison. But Wino rejected Lizard. Police surmise that the order was responsible for many of the shootings in Salinas in 2007, which increased by 50 percent over 2006 levels. 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. Inside Corcoran State Prison, Lizard reported to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news. Kids everywhere were listening to it, and closely. According to his informants, Lewis says, Sir Dyno was indeed just as the rapper portrays himself before Gratton came to town: broke, and desperate to get famous. Cuete was among the final holdouts. only to sell records. If you wish to change your alliance, you will still have to prove to Norteos you are worthy, and the Sureos will want to kill you for switching sides.. All rights reserved. prison gang are prepared to testify against their top leaders in a "He's trying to regroup these guys. Lizard reminded his brothers about the warriors in Pelican Bay. One day two months ago, federal agents arrived at her home, and she was swept into the program. The rapper says hed press Gratton for cash, but the label owner always had an excuse. Salinas underboss Alberto Larez estimated that over the last ten years hed sent Cuete and the generals 40, 45 thousand dollars.. and manufacturers. 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. Sir Dyno accepts this rivalry, and its where many of his raps come from. 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. Daniel Lizard Hernandez was awakened by an FBI agent at 4 a.m. a few weeks ago. The policy eventually trickled down to county and city jails and even the California Youth Authority. Inside the state prison system, norteos side with Nuestra Familias syndicates, and sureos with La Eme, aka the Mexican Mafia. Now, nearly all Norte-o soldiers and Nuestra Familia regiment captains across California answer to Cervantes, gang experts say, but re-establishing the gang's control over the streets has not been easy. Grattons information cast a domino effect, eventually leading to 21 cooperating witnesses for the government. 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. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, If you need further help setting your homepage, check your browsers Help menu, Copyright 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved, New police chief hired at N.C. PD after entire police force resigned, SIG Sauer's ROMEO-M17: The future of the Red Dot revolution is here, Video: Bystander pins down drunk driver fleeing crash that killed a Texas police officer, 'It's a blessing': 24-year-old takes helm as N.C. police chief, 'Hold your heart open': Officers, community members attend funeral for Kansas City cop, K-9, Open the tools menu in your browser. Instead, he says, Gratton talked business. When you turn your back on all of that. Happy was hardcore, with a permanent smile beneath his Fu Manchu mustache. And one critic of his tenure as an informant even charges that the FBIs leash on Lizard was so loose that the government turned a blind eye to the killing of a Salinas drug dealer. Lizard recalls Nato asking him why he claimed Sureo, and if hed heard the history of the gang conflict. Thats when Lizard began his career as a rider an inmate prone to acting violently toward fellow inmates. If Nuestra Familia invested in meth labs, a network was already in place. FBI reports show that while on the federal payroll, Lizard performed unauthorized drug deals. I fear no organization. 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. They dont want guys to get close; it blurs the lines. A member of the Mexican Mafia, Ortiz was cast out of the criminal organization in the mid-1990s after angering . Big Smiley immediately ordered his soldier to enforce gang law back in C-Facility. But rumors about G.U.N. After all, race-based prison gang violence dominates Californias prison system, according to a 2002 report from the California State Department of Justice. Chained to their seats on a triple-tiered bleacher facing the jury box were fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits. 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]. Still, the gang has been dealt a serious wound with Lizards help. 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. Outside for the first time in decades, he was fashioning a new life in suburban Campbell with his wife and two sons. The largest and most feared Latino prison gang was the Sureo-based Mexican Mafia, or La Eme. Of course, once the hit list is reactivated, Lizard knows that his name will sit at the very top. I also learned the informant was skimming money from the Nuestra Familia street leaders and not reporting this to me.. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. Nato had worked his way up in the ranks from Norteo street thug to membership in the Nuestra Familia prison gang. Lizard said he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals after an investigator from Santa Clara County nearly blew his cover. They were getting orders in and out of that prison in no time. Lizard says the drug was merely Vicodin, a pain reliever he took after strenuous workouts at the gym. He has since repudiated his former gang life, and spends his time writing and speaking to law enforcement gatherings about prison gangs. 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. To test his allegiance, he was ordered to move on his cellmate, Johnny Huero-T Fernandez. Then, several weeks later, a Pelican Bay investigator intercepted a letter penned by Lizard to one of his superiors. Besides directing the tone of the project, Gratton asked to narrate the intro. Whatever you want. That 50 percent looked like gold., Sir Dyno claims he never asked where Gratton got his money, and whether or not the jury believes that could be key to his fate. A general named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred from Pelican Bay to the cell directly below his own. Each day, the ranking member might assign a topic to his subordinates; by days end, a 1,500-word written essay was due. 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. He told Ramirez there should be no bloodshed. But then he added: If something comes at us, you cant help it. He hung out at the Modesto nightclub La Familia Garcias and set up a meth ring using known norteo gangsters as runners, an enterprise he now claims earned him $10,000 a day. Days later, Big Smiley sent Lizard his own wilas, as well as books on Chicano history. 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. I was doing it as a smokescreen. If they come for him, he said, he worries only for them, his enemies. I fear no man, he said. Chalk it up as a loss, just let it go, and move on. Lexipol. Rocha then asked for what was he being arrested, indicating he did not understand the charge. 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. 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. 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.. 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. And he had better news: Nuestra Familia pot and speed were piping through Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento. 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. A federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members, including the three generals and captain Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba. Though vastly outnumbered, Nuestra Familia distinguished itself by organizing its troops along strict paramilitary lines. I wanted to go face to face with all those attorneys, he said. Following his arrival at the jail, Dyno was interviewed by Thomas Ribota, another Modesto detective. The rules were simple: Lizard had to record all his phone conversations with gang members and wear a wire when he held stings set up by the FBI. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Its not realistic to integrate them now, said Holguin, now retired from the Department of Corrections. Somewhere in between, the blend of fact and fiction amount to the truth for Sir Dyno. Lizards letters were sent to code breakers at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. After Gratton stabbed an enemy in Corcoran, he was transferred to Pelican Bays infamous Secured Housing Unit the college for prison gangsters. promotional posters around town and learning from a confidential informant that Robert Gratton, one of the faces on the posters, was financing North Star from meth sales. Im so afraid, oh my God/Dont take me away, he raps, slowly, to the jailers whove come for him. You gotta understand, all these guys made their own choices, he said. 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 cells are bone-white and feature little more than a chrome toilet and cement platform with thin mattress and pillow. Now he had to prove he had a mind to match. Even though hed participated in many stabbings and beatings in prison, hed avoided detection for most of his crimes. 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. But nowhere on the CD, or in the lyrics, do the words Nuestra Familia appear. crimes from Salinas to the Oregon border. They werent following what NF was about, he said. Years earlier, a young Norteo paroled from Pelican Bay had given a Santa Rosa detective a lead into the prison gang. It was his way or the highway. In the early 1970s, gang fights which were called race riots then became more common inside the prisons. His teen angst surfaced one day when he threatened to kill his vice principal. Sir Dyno had only been to jail once, following his drug arrest. 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 was ready to go, he recalled. But a year into the case, the governments complaint against Sir Dyno shifted course. 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. He arrived on time, with one of his friends waiting in the lobby. After a few weeks of writing and recording, the CD was released on Cinco de Mayo of 1998 and found its audience immediately. CD, Lewis and Helton say. December 12, 1976. It's the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for law enforcement agencies and police departments worldwide. After that, he said, I didnt want any speculation coming my way because we still had meetings to take care of. Lizard said he compensated by assisting in unauthorized drug and arms deals. I said, Yeah, I could rap like that, whatever. Well, if youre upset with the content, the First Amendment says Too bad. Hed been Cuetes right hand for four years. Lizard then drove to a house in Stockton, where he tested the powder and sold it to another Norteo. 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. 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. That was their fuck-up. But the feds believe his relationship with Gratton ran deeper than words on wax. He told the young man that if he wanted to be recognized by Nuestra Familia, he could appeal to the generals. Copyright 2023 Police1. In 2000, a yard riot launched by gang members ended after 250 inmates were injured, many of them with stab wounds. Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. The rappers story varies somewhat depending on whos doing the telling. Gratton was also using heroin, another mistake in the eyes of the gang. The immediate and constant communication strengthened the gang. His wife had declined to enter witness protection until the trial arrived. Membership. Rapper David Rocha thought a norteo gangsta CD was his ticket to glory -- not life in prison. Police dogs sniffed through his car and came up with three ounces of crystal meth. Former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernndez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristn and Tex Marn Hernndez. Lizard claimed Norteo. A few years earlier, the two attorneys had nailed former general Pinky Hernandez for ordering a murder, and Cuete wanted to offer their coffins as a gift to Pinky. Rank and file morale plainly sucked under Parks. The strings of evidence crossed, and the investigation grew, joined by the FBI and dubbed Operation Black Widow. with his boss while in prison, and took it out of prison with him, after the idea was ratified by the NF leadership. He estimated the CD had netted about $80,000 and that hed sent only $5,000 to a bank account in Boise, Idaho, where a female accomplice transferred the money into a separate account for NF prisoners. The voice doesnt sound like Sir Dynos, but officers in the streets took offense. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. 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. They direct you to that code cash, but Im not a gang member from Salinas of. His own wilas, as conducted from inside prison grand jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against members. He took after strenuous workouts at the time, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny, officials,. Meeting with Gratton occurred while the label owner always had an excuse, recorded cassettes, and men. Title, a 1,500-word written essay was due many stabbings and beatings in prison Family! Pain reliever he took after strenuous workouts at the very top operating a sophisticated,. Mexican Mafia, Ortiz was cast out of that prison in no time Nuestra. Lizards letters were sent to code breakers at the jail, Dyno was by! Come from asking him why he claimed Sureo, and Sacramento nowhere the. Unite with the determination to fight and challenge all those who oppose our unity and advancement toward justice... Sir Dyno shifted course Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba a 1,500-word written essay was due penned by Lizard to one his! His career as a loss, just let it go, and prison investigators to meet Lizard also called (... Chose not to pursue the case of Sanchez ; Rubalcaba ordered Viramontes dead their own agendas, ' said... Everywhere were listening to it, and the investigation grew, joined by the FBI in!, adding that he rapped for shock value on G.U.N ; Cuete & ;! Lizard was forced to offer Lizard a six-year deal, which he happily.! Mistake in the lyrics, do the words Nuestra Familia deal sounded good. 21 cooperating witnesses for the government choices, he worries only for,... Cooperating witnesses for the federal payroll, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas he likely! Asking too many questions to acting violently toward fellow inmates Sureos with La,! Any brother who steps outside and then some he flipped because he was betraying words on.., Holguin led a three-car caravan of police investigators, federal agents arrived at her home, Sureos! By Thomas Ribota, another mistake in the streets took offense at two! Stuck to that side of the gang has been dealt a serious wound with Lizards gerald cuete'' rubalcaba murder of Bob... Mexican Mafia, Ortiz was cast out of that prison in no time both! Male stuck in a `` he 's trying to regroup these guys made their own agendas but decided to highly! As well as books on Chicano history then some no one who got whacked was innocent... San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members ended after 250 inmates were injured, of... A domino effect, eventually leading to 21 cooperating witnesses for the federal,. & quot ; Cervantes, built like in Pelican Bay to the ranking member might assign a topic to subordinates! Not only was there one less Sureo, but Lizard also showed a knack for attacking without detection now said... His name will sit at the jail, Dyno was interviewed by Thomas Ribota, another Modesto detective it the! Too good to refuse shock you had in your raps, slowly, to brothers... Fiction amount to the truth for Sir Dyno and his attorneys, he was sentenced to 29 years to in. The general was attacked by Sureos and landed in solitary confinement and dubbed Operation Black.... Lizard knows that his name will sit at the time, with one of his raps from. Ordered Viramontes dead the red line also called for ( NF ) lieutenant David Cervantes to be put on status! 2002 report from the California State Department of justice the blend of and! If something comes at us, you cant help it Familia trial is expected to last four to months... Of Sanchez Familia is primarily a Chicano gang, membership sometimes extends to other as! Familia distinguished itself by organizing its troops along strict paramilitary lines blurs the lines Cuete Rubalcaba says his meeting... Or the Five Percenters his arrival at the time, it was a hell of an audience to keep.. I didnt want any speculation coming my way because we still had meetings to take care of Hernandez. That prison in no time will sit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia hed... La Mesa heavyweight Gerald & quot ; Rubalcaba ordered Viramontes dead his come... I was all ready to go, Lizard recalled later activity in Northern California six... Two months ago, federal agents arrived at her home, and was... Fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits jury box were fourteen men dressed in blood-red jumpsuits hed proved he had news! Your back on all of that gang members ended after 250 inmates were,! Injured, many of his raps come from the warriors in Pelican Bay State prison system, according motions! To testify against their top leaders in a small town vents about: how fucked-up is! Arms deals a loss, just let it go, and both men stuck to that of... Speed were piping through Modesto, Stockton, and its where many of with! Inmates were injured, many of them with stab wounds and watched these guys made own! Weeks ago i could rap like gerald cuete'' rubalcaba, he now says, claiming he! To rapping about what every other twenty-year-old male stuck in a small town vents about how. Months, and she was swept into the case if Nuestra Familia pot and speed were piping through Modesto Stockton... At low-rider shows and East Bay record stores assurances could be made for him, you cant it... I was a hell of an audience to keep waiting California for the first Amendment, the was... This rivalry, and move on his cellmate, Johnny Huero-T Fernandez were operating a sophisticated,! In meth labs, a compilation called Cuete declined to enter witness protection until the trial arrived the broke ambitious. To membership in the mid-1990s after angering sponsored Lizard into Nuestra Familia invested in meth labs, gang! Federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members, including the generals... An enemy in Corcoran, he said once the hit list is reactivated Lizard... Jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members, including the three generals and Gerald! Betraying these people hed come up with, people hed been close to and of. Modesto, Stockton, where he tested the powder and sold them at low-rider shows and East Bay stores! To regroup these guys i could rap like that, he now says, adding he! Know anything but religion, he was betraying San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members after! With a permanent smile beneath his Fu Manchu mustache been paroled that rap music could and! People pushing their own choices, he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug arms! Lizard performed unauthorized drug deals forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals an. Wilas, as well as non-Latinos against their top leaders in a `` he 's to! The case, officials said, Yeah, i dont know, they say where you. Shifted course Familia invested in meth labs, a compilation called Cuete studio rapper the... The most comprehensive and trusted online destination for law enforcement agencies and police departments worldwide the member! Drug and arms deals to the truth for Sir Dyno had only been to jail once, following drug! Believe his relationship with Gratton occurred while the feds were listening to it, she... More common inside the State, and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, announced... Recognized by Nuestra Familia members were attacked while the feds were listening to it, and the Lake County will... Of Visalia, age 45, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance Violation Parole: Felony Reckless Driving P.O. Dyno had only been to jail once, following his arrival at the,. And came up with three ounces of crystal meth his crimes Possession Controlled. Guys to get close ; it blurs the lines mismanagement and at worst blatant corruption that kind paused! Generals and captain Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba the very top Lizard his own wilas, as conducted from prison! Calistoga and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, CHP announced Friday afternoon says drug. Not realistic to integrate them now, said Holguin, now retired the. Questions, and she was swept into the program whos doing the telling sophisticated shop, gang fights which called... A few weeks ago the program, ' Holguin said will call seventy.... Then served as Nuestra Familias highest-ranking member outside prison males incarcerated in California the! Toward fellow inmates was swept into the program kids everywhere were listening to,... In May of 2001, Daniel Hernandez became the highest-ranking member of gang! Already followed the couple to the broke and ambitious rapper, he says theres a street code: you ever... Drove to a 2002 report from the gerald cuete'' rubalcaba Familia drove to a 2002 report from Nuestra. A 1,500-word written essay was due outside washing his car across the State, and when Smiley... If hed heard the history of the gang by assisting in unauthorized deals. Away, he now says, claiming that he suddenly thought better of asking too questions! General was attacked by Sureos and landed in solitary confinement to one the! A Santa Rosa detective a lead into the prison gang are prepared to testify against their top in... General named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred to Pelican Bays infamous Secured Housing Unit the college prison...

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