In the days following the indictments, his FBI handlers put him on a plane headed for the East Coast. Now, at 22, Frias has been sentenced to a prison term of 29 years to life for the gang-ordered execution of Raymond Sanchez at Cap's Saloon in downtown Salinas. A member of the Mexican Mafia, Ortiz was cast out of the criminal organization in the mid-1990s after angering . She was nicknamed Crazy Girl and had the moniker tattooed over her right kneecap, according to FBI documents. How could he go back in with Cuete wanting him dead? 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. Theres no denying Sir Dyno is norteo, but hes careful to explain that a norteo isnt necessarily a gang member, just a Chicano proud of his provenance. Sir Dyno was born. "There's family members still loyal to the guys in the fed," he said, referring to the exiled former generals and captains in Colorado. Hed loaded up the hit list and was feuding with two of the generals while angling for a promotion. 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. Lizards letters were sent to code breakers at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Chalk it up as a loss, just let it go, and move on. Im from up here, I grew up with norteo friends. Three days before Christmas, Lizard called Holguin. The idea was to create a music CD that would appeal to young Latinos and help recruit them into the ranks of the Nortenos, the breeding ground for hate toward the soldados of the Mexican Mafia. Latinos, although initially thrown together, had to choose Norteo or Sureo. But witnesses corralled by police later refused to work with the district attorney. Copyright Weeklys All rights reserved. They were, according to the government, members of Nuestra Familia, Northern Californias most notorious and ruthless prison gang. Im not sure you can undo it.. 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. 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. Sir Dyno had only been to jail once, following his drug arrest. I see the reality of things now and now that Ive gone through that, theres, like, no glory in it, you know?. Later, when Heltons team arrested an alleged Nuestra Familia member named Vidal Spider Fabela during a traffic stop, they found G.U.N. By the time he turned 25, Dyno had carved his own niche as a Chicano gangsta rapper, mixing Spanish with English. And he had better news: Nuestra Familia pot and speed were piping through Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento. Lizard was the kind of guy who took the NF way very seriously. The red line also called for (NF) lieutenant David Cervantes to be put on retirement status. Ribota declined comment for this story, in light of the upcoming trial. With most prison gangs who try and use the mail, theres a big lag time things get lost, hits get reversed so theres a lot of miscommunication. 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. Grattons information cast a domino effect, eventually leading to 21 cooperating witnesses for the government. 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. 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. 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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. Assistant US Attorney Steven Gruel responded in court papers that federal agents couldnt be blamed for failing to notify the victim, since Sanchez already knew that he had serious problems with Heredias gang (in fact, he had been hiding). Gruel also offered four instances in which Lizards testimony did lead FBI agents to inform Norteos they were marked for death. He told his interviewers Sir Dyno put out Gang Stories without permission and, for that, was very close to being placed on a hit list.. Still, the weekend he got out, he was intent on getting paid. He arrived on time, with one of his friends waiting in the lobby. Rapper David Rocha thought a norteo gangsta CD was his ticket to glory -- not life in prison. of Tulare County. When his handlers shook him from his slumber, Lizard felt relieved, not irritated. And then I told him, You know who I am. Following instructions from the generals, Cuete put out a hit on Brown Bob. Hed turned his parents garage into a makeshift studio, recorded cassettes, and sold them at low-rider shows and East Bay record stores. And though prison officials recently reorganized the housing in a way that slows down gang communications, coded directives are still smuggled out that translate to violence in California cities and farm towns. For the next three months, he made his bones among Norteos by slashing Sureo inmates, brothers hed once shouldered with. dozens of murders while imprisoned at Pelican Bay, including Lizard was then ordered to make a move on Jeremiah Ruiz, a Nuestra Familia dropout. The report counted nearly seven thousand cases of inmate assault in the states 32 institutions, along with nine murders that year, a steady increase over the past decade. Symbols and culture I dont rattle, he said. There was Henry Happy Cervantes, built like a fire hydrant, who got caught on an FBI wire offering to murder two Santa Clara County district attorneys. The rapper denied this new accusation. 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. 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. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. The DA was forced to offer Lizard a six-year deal, which he happily accepted. Jan 27, 2005. Thousands bought the album in the major record chains like Sam Goody's. 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. Helton checked out Grattons business licenses, and learned of Sir Dynos involvement through the music distributor. After all, race-based prison gang violence dominates Californias prison system, according to a 2002 report from the California State Department of Justice. One month later, he was visited by Louie Holguin, a special agent with the Department of Corrections who monitored parolees and prison gangs. 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. 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. 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. When the five were transferred out of California, Gov. Copyright 2023 A judge will decide in December whether his cooperation as an informant outweighs his considerable criminal past. He offered to cover all production costs and promised Sir Dyno a fifty-fifty split on profits. Special Agent Kelly explained to Rocha that he was being placed under arrest for violation of RICO conspiracy, the report states. That was their fuck-up. Then, several weeks later, a Pelican Bay investigator intercepted a letter penned by Lizard to one of his superiors. 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. who joined the FBI and other agencies in an investigation of street They spent the next two days debriefing their new informant. 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.. He says theres a street code: You dont ever ask too many questions, and both men stuck to that code. In 2004, when the prison gang's top five leaders were transferred from California to a federal supermaximum prison in Florence, Colo., a struggle for the gang's top positions brewed in Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, the Nuestra Familia's traditional headquarters. The young guys trying to make their name were always the craziest, just as Lizard once had been. After a Nuestra Familia-led intifada left Folsom State Prison wet with blood, officials transferred most if not all of that facilitys Norteos to other state institutions. The rappers story varies somewhat depending on whos doing the telling. Released from the Secured Housing Unit in August 1995, Lizard was chiseled and fit as a warrior in heart and mind. Inside Corcoran State Prison, Lizard reported to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news. Lizard recalled feeling nothing in the aftermath of the hit. Instead, he says, Gratton talked business. 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. As Chuco watched from up the street, David Dreamer Escamilla and Santos Bad Boy Burnias charged their target and chased him into his garage. Jared Lewis, a former Modesto gang investigator, says the impact of G.U.N. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. Lizard was paroled to the outside world on May 18, 2000. That autumn, according to testimony from a fellow gang member, Lizard ordered seventeen stabbings. Lizard brushed aside Holguins offer. They were much smaller than the Mexican Mafia, so they used it to their advantage, gang expert Jared Lewis said. In August 1998, the CD appeared on the radar of Tim Helton, an investigator on Modestos Street Terrorism and Apprehension Team. Not just in rap, but everywhere. 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