Lizard was the kind of guy who took the NF way very seriously. Frias used a pay phone to call another gang member, Roque Boxer Martinez, who said he would bring a .22 and meet Frias in the parking lot. And in another case, according to his handlers, Lizard drove to Lodi with Happy Cervantes for a weekend getaway, where he left his wire behind and failed to stay in touch with the FBI. He reiterated that he told Martinez clearly: no bloodshed., How could I order the hit? he asked. Lizard said Bob was marked because hed stuck his nose into matters that didnt concern him. Rocha did not seem to understand the reason for the arrest or the charge. None of these other [Nuestra Familia members] have a thing to say about [Sir Dyno], Manson says. The quickest way to get money back fast would be to release a norteo album. Hed turned his parents garage into a makeshift studio, recorded cassettes, and sold them at low-rider shows and East Bay record stores. gang activity in Northern California about six years ago. Its as sensible as that East Coast-West Coast thing. You see, this is Norte, he growls on Scrap Killa. X-I-V fourteen, dont ever ask me what I mean/I got the gat that will put you in the dirt/I piss on your grave with your mamas feelings hurt.. The next rung of leaders in Pelican Bay includes Daniel "Stork" Perez of Salinas; Anthony "Chuco" Guillen of San Jose, who was involved in the murder of a Nuestra Familia member there and is serving a 25-year sentence; and George "Puppet" Franco, 39, from San Jose, responsible for the gang's activities in Stockton, Tracy and Fresno. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. Jacobs told Viramontes he was marked, but promised he wouldn't let it happen in his yard. Holguin was well known to Nuestra Familia members hed interviewed hundreds of them during his three decades in the system. He is the most significant witness and cooperators in this prison gang/organized crime family in history. dozens of murders while imprisoned at Pelican Bay, including 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. Arresting the majority of the defendants was easy; they were already in prison. But witnesses corralled by police later refused to work with the district attorney. Thousands bought the album in the major record chains like Sam Goody's. Following his arrival at the jail, Dyno was interviewed by Thomas Ribota, another Modesto detective. We aint gonna whack no prosecuting attorney, Lizard said. Nuestra Familia prestige is now generational, passed from father to son, uncle to nephew. In the aftermath, some of the gang's thousands of Norte-o associates -- street-level soldiers who answer to Nuestra Familia -- stayed loyal to the exiled generals and captains, while others looked to Pelican Bay because the gang's written constitution said its leaders must reside there. At any one time, an estimated two to three hundred members are incarcerated there, including the gangs top three generals. Lizard said he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals after an investigator from Santa Clara County nearly blew his cover. According to court documents, Gratton says he regularly fronted Sir Dyno four ounces at a time. You have entered an incorrect email address! 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. Up to that point, Lizard had identified himself as a Sureo, but only when pressed. And I did my time for what I was doing. Gratton was shirtless, a large Nuestra Familia tattoo visible in bold letters across his back. Even now, he talks about the incident with the distance that soldiers put between themselves and their wartime deeds. The thought of slashing his cousin made no sense. The red line also called for (NF) lieutenant David Cervantes to be put on retirement status. I fear no man, he said. He took the gangs oath, Blood in, blood out, and rose to the rank of captain within a few years. Ultimately, Sir Dynos fate could come down to whether jurors believe the David Rocha at home on the couch, or Robert Gratton, the snitch on the stand. As he awaits his new sentence, Lizard also awaits his new identity. If he went back to Pelican Bay, his elders would be upset to see him. But rumors about G.U.N. After three decades, Nuestra Familia is now an institution on Northern California streets and is spreading rapidly through the suburbs of the Central Valley, gang investigator Lewis said. A judge will decide in December whether his cooperation as an informant outweighs his considerable criminal past. The FBI believes the exchange earned Lizard a quick $3,600. In a corner of his home thats been scribbled on with black markers by one of his kids, Sir Dyno still works daily, mixing beats on a computer, recording new rhymes, diddling on a keyboard. They were operating a sophisticated shop, gang expert Lewis said. I told him, Listen. Nineteen-year-old Armando Frias was shooting pool when he recognized the wanted man. Danny was telling me, But Im not a gang member,' Holguin said. 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. That night, Holguin led a three-car caravan of police investigators, federal agents, and prison investigators to meet Lizard. His character on the track writes a letter to his daughter, apologizing for his absence while she grows up. 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 A few weeks later, the rapper signed a new contract with Dog Day Records and quickly released an album called Gang Stories. The CD had been funded in 1998 from Pelican Bay prison by the top Nuestra Familia general, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba. 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. To the broke and ambitious rapper, the deal sounded too good to refuse. The five former leaders are James "Tibbs" Morado, 59, whose common-law wife, 20-year-old Salinas resident Crystal Nenque, was found slain on Hecker Pass Road near Watsonville in 2005; Joseph. One day two months ago, federal agents arrived at her home, and she was swept into the program. Sir Dyno had only been to jail once, following his drug arrest. Hed began his criminal career as a teenage norteo gang member, pulling off smash-and-grab robberies of jewelry stores. Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. Each day, the ranking member might assign a topic to his subordinates; by days end, a 1,500-word written essay was due. I wanted to go face to face with all those attorneys, he said. He complained again that his overhead was too high; he had to charge $3,200 per pound of meth, while his competitors were selling it at $2,600 to $2,800. 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. One by one, the street commanders paid their respects. had pulled down between $50,000 and $80,000. They moved together into a Pittsburg apartment, and Nato continued his cousins indoctrination in Nuestra Familia. He was a micro-manager. Roy Morales. He was betraying these people hed come up with, people hed been close to. He did not return letters seeking comment for this article. But the feds believe his relationship with Gratton ran deeper than words on wax. Its the life story of a petty hood who reached his full criminal potential only afterentering the California prison system. I didnt realize lyrics could be taken so seriously, he now says, claiming that he rapped for shock value on G.U.N. He also was responsible for ensuring the battalions on the streets were holding fast against Sureos and sending drug profits to help pay the legal bills of their incarcerated generals. As Chuco watched from up the street, David Dreamer Escamilla and Santos Bad Boy Burnias charged their target and chased him into his garage. Together, Nato and Lizard robbed drug dealers, committed petty crimes, and raised funds for their carnals back inside. On the back cover, he stands next to Gratton, flashing XIV signs. All you have to do is find out where the motherfucker is, pull up on the side of them., Lizard ended the conversation. and manufacturers. But copies were intercepted in Pelican Bay, giving investigators a heads-up about the leadership changes. 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. After he was expelled, his parents sent him back north to live with an aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to. 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. Happy was hardcore, with a permanent smile beneath his Fu Manchu mustache. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Weeks later, the general was attacked by Sureos and landed in solitary confinement. If Nuestra Familia invested in meth labs, a network was already in place. Hernandez never belonged to either group until he ended up in prison. For months, Dynos attorneys have been trying to distance their client from the rest of the defendants and get him his own trial. Cuete had gone power mad. 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. I wanted to get out of there, to come to California and do what I needed to do.. The rationale for the federal case, officials said, was to cripple the gang's power base . Ultimately, Judge Charles Breyer denied Zilversmits motion. [21] And there was ghosting a letter: using a Q-Tip to swab milk or urine to write out orders on a piece of paper. The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. I did what I had to do, he says. Im from up here, I grew up with norteo friends. It wasnt quite the impression he wanted to make. Whites joined the Aryan Brotherhood or Nazi Low Riders for protection. gang's leaders communicated by some form of secret code within the Inside Corcoran State Prison, Lizard reported to the ranking commander and heard some troubling news. If youre a norteo, and youre flamed-up in reds a 49ers jersey will do a lone sureo, who might be dressed down in his Dodgers blue, could make a move on you, unprovoked. County./AP. Gratton knew nothing about the music business, but he had bricks of cash and a simple plan: to produce a rap CD that would work as a recruiting tool for Nuestra Familia and also serve to launder the gangs drug money. In the months since federal officials brought indictments based on the evidence he helped them gather, Lizard told his tale from within the confines of protective custody via letters and telephone interviews. 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. 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. They let in only the guys who followed the rules to the T, and bought into the cause. Lizard prepared to take the stand against Nuestra Familia. I had to.. Its not realistic to integrate them now, said Holguin, now retired from the Department of Corrections. He said that after he drove away from a successful arms sale in the South Bay, at which he wore a wire, one of his underbosses called to warn him he was being tailed by a suspicious car, which Lizard knew was the investigator. federal racketeering case, according to court papers. Please subscribe to keep reading. OUR PUBLICATIONSCannabis ChronicleEast BayGilroy DispatchGood Times Santa CruzHollister Free LanceKing City RustlerMarin Pacific SunMetro Silicon ValleyMorgan Hill TimesNorth Bay BohemianPress BannerSalinas Valley TribuneSouth ValleyWatsonville Pajaronian, ADVERTISINGAdvertiseLegal NoticesObituariesSponsored ContentWriting An ObituarySubmit an Obituary, COMPANY INFOJob OpportunitiesPrivacy Policy. Silent also provided Lizard with a stolen Dodge Durango to test-drive. Lizard brushed aside Holguins offer. We shared a common goal, and that goal was to be the very NF members who put the organization back on track.. walls at Pelican Bay State Prison to carry out the crimes. A general named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred from Pelican Bay to the cell directly below his own. Thats it. Im not sure you can undo it.. By 1965, Sureos outnumbered Norteos by roughly seven to one inside the prison system. He pleaded guilty to arranging two murders from prison, and will be sentenced to life in prison in December, along with the gangs generals. Even outside prison, members were expected to remain loyal to the gang. On April 30, 1997, Robert Huerito Gratton arrived in Modesto, fresh from Pelican Bay. Copyright Weeklys All rights reserved. At the end of the day he gets to go home.. 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. For seven months, he secretly recorded meetings with his gangs underbosses, allowing federal agents to listen in as his carnals planned drug deals, bought firearms, and talked openly about killing people, including two deputy district attorneys from Santa Clara County. Copyright 2023 Police1. Grattons wife was the cousin of a rapper named E-Clips, who at the time was a member of Darkroom Familia. Then in late April 2001, more than two years since hed last spoken to Robert Gratton, he was summoned to a meeting with his parole officer. Four months into his service as a snitch, FBI agents concluded that he had lied to one of his handlers when he said he was headed to Stockton for a round of golf. With the prison population growing so fast, they had their pick, Lewis said. Not only was there one less Sureo, but Lizard also showed a knack for attacking without detection. As a kid growing up in this small town, David Rocha was a freestyle BMXer who bounced along on one wheel during Fourth of July parades. Sir Dyno was born. Whatever it is, you gotta go to the extreme. And I was part of that policy. These divisions werent just cultural. When you turn your back on all of that. His middle-class Long Beach upbringing was spent golfing, surfing, and skateboarding. attempts on two assistant district attorneys in Santa Clara Big Smiley immediately ordered his soldier to enforce gang law back in C-Facility. She disguised her own missives as legal mail from a fictitious San Francisco attorney and sent them directly back into the Secured Housing Unit, where all three gang generals were locked up. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. In November 1998, he was pulled over on a traffic violation. I spoke to a classification officer at the San Joaquin County jail who confirmed that Rocha claimed to be norteo but didnt claim a particular set of a gang.. In hindsight, the move only solidified the stature of race-based gangs, said Daniel Vasquez, a former San Quentin prison warden and gang investigator. Almost two decades later, Lizard still recalls the clarity of that moment. 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. Copyright 2023 Though vastly outnumbered, Nuestra Familia distinguished itself by organizing its troops along strict paramilitary lines. That report, based on information from another snitch, revealed that Cuete was demoted by the generals to the lowest rank for skimming funds and gossiping. 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. It wasnt worth it to me anymore., Yet the claim that the rapper was blissfully unaware of Grattons gang connections doesnt pass the sniff test for law-enforcement guys like Jared Lewis. 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. The Apprehension Teams scrutiny proved to be Sir Dynos downfall. Later, when Heltons team arrested an alleged Nuestra Familia member named Vidal Spider Fabela during a traffic stop, they found G.U.N. Robert Brown Bob Viramontes was 44 and had shared cells with Nuestra Familias founding fathers in Soledad. crimes from Salinas to the Oregon border. Latinos, although initially thrown together, had to choose Norteo or Sureo. 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