Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. According to prison officials, gang leaders could arrange such deals by offering to keep the peace. Thats when I started pulling away, he says. After all, race-based prison gang violence dominates Californias prison system, according to a 2002 report from the California State Department of Justice. CD turned out to be one of about fifty disks the prolific rapper has appeared on in the past ten years, and the most militant in its norteo ideology. 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. Eager to shore up his status in Nuestra Familia, Lizard said, he soon stabbed Sureo Rudolpho Castillo in the throat, nearly killing him. , Just as knowledge can be the key, there is strength in numbers; therefore, we norteos can no longer continue to fight against one another. By the time he turned 25, Dyno had carved his own niche as a Chicano gangsta rapper, mixing Spanish with English. Lizard is unapologetic about his behavior, even today. Even though hed participated in many stabbings and beatings in prison, hed avoided detection for most of his crimes. I told him, I know exactly who you are,' Holguin recalled. I am just as dangerous as they are.. I kind of paused, Sir Dyno says, adding that he suddenly thought better of asking too many questions. When the five were transferred out of California, Gov. It is my hope the federal prison system is better equipped to derail the violence.. In a way, its a compliment to me. He said he knows they may try to find him, but that he will not hide. But Lizard played it cool. If he stayed in Corcoran, hed have to watch his back for young Norteos. The theory went, if we separated the two gangs, wed have less problems, Vasquez said. 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. Frias returned to the bar, gun tucked in his waistband, walked behind Sanchez, and fired a bullet into the base of his skull, killing him. He could shank n roll, as the prisoners say. January 22,2001 Lizard and the government deny this accusation. The federal indictment named 13 members, including Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, the boss who greenlighted Viramontes, and the two other reigning La Mesa members, James "Tibbs" Morado and Cornelio "Corny" Tristan. with prosecutors for reduced sentences, The Press Democrat reported The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. Consider this reasoning using an unrelated example: All chickens are bipeds; John Ashcroft is a biped. Gratton was also using heroin, another mistake in the eyes of the gang. They made their beds, and so did Bob. Im a Northerner, he says, arms wide. walls at Pelican Bay State Prison to carry out the crimes. I mean, I would think not, but you better have some realness to it if youre going to rap that way., Despite his marketed image, Sir Dyno now claims hes never known anyone who died from gang warfare, never had anyone close to him go off to prison. And in every fashion when necessity called for it, I wanted the NF hierarchy to recognize my loyalty and dedication to NF. Hes turned his attention to rapping about what he knows, rather than what he fantasizes. 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 . Gratton, Sir Dyno says, wanted him to aim his lyrics at bringing together norteos. These defendants wisely elected to plead guilty rather than face the prospect of Mr. Hernandez appearance as a trial witness against them.. Or better yet, two prosecuting attorneys., Cervantes persisted. Lo-fi beats backed simple, repetitive keyboard riffs. You have entered an incorrect email address! Lizard prepared to take the stand against Nuestra Familia. After a few weeks of writing and recording, the CD was released on Cinco de Mayo of 1998 and found its audience immediately. Hes convinced hell get off scot-free. Rocha then asked for what was he being arrested, indicating he did not understand the charge. Citing the First Amendment, the DA chose not to pursue the case. That autumn, according to testimony from a fellow gang member, Lizard ordered seventeen stabbings. 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. Lizard said Cuete asked him to establish a line of communication that couldnt be detected by guards. After a few meetings, he told Sir Dyno he wanted to finance a project, but instead of using the rappers already-established label, Gratton opted to launch North Star Records. His wife had declined to enter witness protection until the trial arrived. For now, at least, the final guilty pleas appeared to have pruned back the Blooming Flower. 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. They were, according to the government, members of Nuestra Familia, Northern Californias most notorious and ruthless prison gang. Copyright 2023 Police1. He faced 25 years to life. His most recent, Engrave These Words on My Stone, is probably his most cathartic, if not authentic. Gratton sought out Sir Dyno because the rapper had a following, needed to produce a successful CD, and was familiar with music distribution and marketing. They werent following what NF was about, he said. They didnt care about agendas like that.. During his time with Nuestra Raza, Gratton learned the boot camp basics: how to make shanks, decode letters, and memorize the NF Constitution. Heres my card.'. had pulled down between $50,000 and $80,000. 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. They were much smaller than the Mexican Mafia, so they used it to their advantage, gang expert Jared Lewis said. He wanted gang members to start cooking the drug themselves. In early 1998, fellow La Mesa heavyweight Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba ordered Viramontes dead. Almost two decades later, Lizard still recalls the clarity of that moment. And I did my time for what I was doing. Lizard then drove to a house in Stockton, where he tested the powder and sold it to another Norteo. She was nicknamed Crazy Girl and had the moniker tattooed over her right kneecap, according to FBI documents. He argued with a dealer and ended up firing three bullets at the man as he ran away. Youre a lot smarter than those guys doing life in prison. I fear no man, he said. He returned to San Quentin in June of 1994 to begin his sentence. Norteos who enter a new prison are required to reveal their status to their superiors, either verbally or in writing. 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. Snow-locked Highway 29 between Calistoga and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, CHP announced Friday afternoon. 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. 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. How could he go back in with Cuete wanting him dead? Lizard said he wrote to a member of the Black Guerrillas whom hed met in San Quentin. What if you get away with it? The Norte-os are trying to establish (in Salinas) but every time they try to, there's shootouts." and manufacturers. There was Henry "Happy" Cervantes, built like . Latinos, although initially thrown together, had to choose Norteo or Sureo. 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. "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. Lizard had been hiding out along the East Coast, a snitch buried deep inside federal protective custody. 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. His father sold vacuum cleaners; his mother was a housewife. Rubalcaba is accused in court papers of ordering [21] Hed picked up an ounce of weed at Rohnert Park and smoked a few joints with his buddy Israel Silent Mendoza. There were three-way calls, where inmates from two different prisons called a gang member known as a gente on the outside, who held the phones together so they could talk. Zilversmit said the feds were preoccupied with preserving their investigation instead of saving lives. The "filter," or official paperwork announcing the hit, came down to Jacobs, who, by this time, had developed a close friendship with Viramontes. Using confidential informants, investigators said they've No one who got whacked was an innocent man. And I wanted to go high.. 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 "Pinky" Hernandez, 58; Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, 52; Cornelio Tristan, 46; and former Monterey resident Tex Marin Hernandez, 53. Dozens of Napans who are homeless will soon find permanent housing in a former city motel. The system certainly creates you, makes you decide. The only way to sell was to shock, he says. Helton checked out Grattons business licenses, and learned of Sir Dynos involvement through the music distributor. All rights reserved. Copyright Weeklys All rights reserved. Holguin and his team came up empty that night. He told them about killing Brown Bob. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. That what I decided to do.. But within a few months, Nato got pinched for robbery, and with his long rap sheet, he got 39 years. But I knew more about Cuete and his family, and he did about mine. 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 . Now youre in the gang., Lizard still recalls what Nato told him on that day back in San Quentin: Primo, if the North and South go to war, I cant protect you just because youre my blood. In December of 2001, Daniel Hernandez became the highest-ranking member of the Nuestra Familia prison gang to cooperate with federal investigators. A federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down 21 indictments against gang members, including the three generals and captain Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba. Later, when Heltons team arrested an alleged Nuestra Familia member named Vidal Spider Fabela during a traffic stop, they found G.U.N. From the prisons to the jails, all over California, you have to claim a side, Vasquez said. Eventually, he returned there, unable to cope with life in the slow lane. The CD had been funded in 1998 from Pelican Bay prison by the top Nuestra Familia general, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba. Following his arrival at the jail, Dyno was interviewed by Thomas Ribota, another Modesto detective. Since prisoners cant mail one another, Lizard began writing Kayln Santiago, a friend from Boise. 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. Under federal law, its rather easy to be declared a coconspirator in a RICO case. He said that was where he picked up the nickname Lizard, from friends who admired his clandestine nature.. Whatever it is, you gotta go to the extreme. He already was serving a life sentence for murder in Pelican Bay State Prison, but now he was under indictment for ordering a hit on an underboss named Miguel Mikio Castillo. They also hardened into gang boundaries on the streets. In its fifteen years of operation, at least a dozen inmates have been strangled to death inside its walls, according to lawsuits and published reports. If he wrote Dear Love, every sixth word mattered. Its a tough call. Lizard first went to prison when he was nineteen. He was born in Pittsburg, which made him a Norteo by birth. According to one source, Ribota took the CD to the San Joaquin County district attorneys office to see if it constituted an official threat to a police officer. Shortly thereafter, his client pleaded guilty for a chance at parole, but remained adamant that Lizard had given him the green light. Salinas underboss Alberto Larez estimated that over the last ten years hed sent Cuete and the generals 40, 45 thousand dollars.. Once paroled, Lizard then served as Nuestra Familias highest-ranking member outside prison. He was as bright and loyal as they came, so Cuete could trust him.. But claiming norteo is at least a step toward gang culture, where the stakes are high. The idea was that rap music could unite and galvanize young Norteo soldiers across the state, and it did. Looking to score one night in early 1994, Lizard headed to an intersection known for the sale of chiva. He found his man in David Sir Dyno Rocha, then a 26-year-old budding rhymer and producer from Tracy. The more shock you had in your raps, at the time, the more you sold. 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. A general named Art Big Smiley Ramirez was transferred from Pelican Bay to the cell directly below his own. The words didnt sound right to Lizard. The following day, Ray Sanchez walked into Caps Saloon, unaware that hed been the discussion of a hit. Under the federal RICO laws used to indict criminal organizations like Nuestra Familia, anyone who knowingly associates with one member of a gang becomes part of it and if the gang goes down, so does he. 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. According to transcripts, two carnals, Israel Silent Mendoza and Anthony Morales, brought Lizard sixty grams of negra, black-tar heroin to sell, use, or barter. "He's trying to regroup these guys. Finally, brothers were required to learn sign language so they could make the most of the one hour outside their cells. Lizard said he was forced into performing the unauthorized drug deals after an investigator from Santa Clara County nearly blew his cover. 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. Membership. 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. Copyright 2023 Special Agent Kelly explained to Rocha that he was being placed under arrest for violation of RICO conspiracy, the report states. Once the government proves the existence of a criminal organization like Nuestra Familia, evidence establishing beyond a reasonable doubt defendants connection with the conspiracy, even though the connection is slight, is sufficient to convict defendant. If the legal standard is a slight connection, then the CD and videos where Gratton and Sir Dyno appear side by side as brothers in crime may prove overkill. 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. 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. To test his allegiance, he was ordered to move on his cellmate, Johnny Huero-T Fernandez. When it concluded in April 2001, after a $5 million investment, it was one of the largest takedowns on a prison gang in US history. By 1965, Sureos outnumbered Norteos by roughly seven to one inside the prison system. Lizard is disappointed that he never got his moment on the witness stand. In the weeks leading up to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment had been stormed by FBI agents. The 13 defendants, six of them from Pelican Bay, are currently housed at a maximum security prison in North County Jail in Oakland where . attempts on two assistant district attorneys in Santa Clara Rocha was asked, Do you want to speak to an attorney? Rocha did not respond, and went on to state, Im a musician. He also stated something to the effect, If you have a landscaper work on your yard, you dont care where the equipment comes from.'. Jared Lewis, a former Modesto gang investigator, says the impact of G.U.N. 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. Arresting the majority of the defendants was easy; they were already in prison. He was all business, all the time.. It remains to be seen ultimately whether this prosecution was warranted, he said in accepting the guilty pleas. 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. But copies were intercepted in Pelican Bay, giving investigators a heads-up about the leadership changes. Gerald Marvin Rubalcaba of Visalia, age 45, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance Violation Parole: Felony Reckless Driving Evading P.O. Symbols and culture In an interview last year, Zilversmit said Lizard and his FBI handlers were culpable in the death of Sanchez. Lizard was paroled to the outside world on May 18, 2000. To the broke and ambitious rapper, the deal sounded too good to refuse. According to Lewis, the gang grew from about a thousand members in the late 80s to more than two thousand just six years later. According to Lizard and FBI informants, the accounts held up to $25,000. 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. He has since repudiated his former gang life, and spends his time writing and speaking to law enforcement gatherings about prison gangs. 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. Lizard wrote Big Smiley a wila, or small letter the size of a gum wrapper. When the state-of-the-art super-max penitentiary opened in 1989, built exclusively for the states 2,800 most violent inmates, Governor George Deukmejian hailed it a model for the rest of the nation. Instead, it has become a model gang incubator. But one year later, his family moved to Long Beach, the heart of Sureo country. 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. Most importantly, he showed a willingness to draw sureo blood. Not with NF.. Hes had plenty of time to contemplate. gang activity in Northern California about six years ago. But the state prison guards union and correctional officials have argued that to mix inmates now would only bring more violence. In her written response, she pointed out the governments logical error: All NF members and associates are norteos; David is a norteo. Besides directing the tone of the project, Gratton asked to narrate the intro. They dont want guys to get close; it blurs the lines. Daniel Lizard Hernandez was awakened by an FBI agent at 4 a.m. a few weeks ago. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. While working as an informant, he tested positive for drug use. To Sir Dyno and his attorneys, the report demonstrates his utter confusion under unbelievable circumstances. Henry Happy Cervantes spoke to Lizard alone. He was a micro-manager. Even though he was broke and sleeping on friends couches, Sir Dyno felt he was on the cusp of the big time, ready to break. Lizard has a thick handlebar mustache, broad shoulders, and is engraved with prison tattoos in Old English script. Hed loaded up the hit list and was feuding with two of the generals while angling for a promotion. The CD includes Nuestra Familia artwork and a statement that the success of this project has resulted from true Norteo unity we applaud the Carnalismo we would also like to give a special thanks to our family [emphasis theirs] and all the warriors. Trial witness R.G. The album would preach the unification of norteos Chicanos born north of an invisible border located somewhere around Fresno who, once inside the prison system, were eligible to join Nuestra Familia. The DA was forced to offer Lizard a six-year deal, which he happily accepted. 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.. Lizard had made other deals, too. Lizard swung his weight around hard. Lizard brushed aside Holguins offer. 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. Its just the way it is, Sir Dyno says. After Gratton stabbed an enemy in Corcoran, he was transferred to Pelican Bays infamous Secured Housing Unit the college for prison gangsters. finds relevant news, identifies important training information, He was betraying these people hed come up with, people hed been close to. He is currently a gang instructor at the FBI Headquarter's in-service nationwide training program for field agents. Since at least the 1920s, many California Latinos have thought of themselves in the same way that other residents of the state divide themselves: as Northern Californians, or Norteos; and Southern Californians, or Sureos. If it read Hello Love!, it was every eighth word. Lizard recalled feeling nothing in the aftermath of the hit. After the gang member sent word to his people on the street, the witnesses to Lizards crime were persuaded not to show up for trial. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. On the back cover, he stands next to Gratton, flashing XIV signs. At the end of the day he gets to go home.. Every day we prepared for war., Lizard speaks about his gang membership with such conviction and authority that one law enforcement official jokingly compared his oratory skills to those of Fidel Castro. 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. The large XIV across his throat represented the fourteenth letter of the alphabet, N, for Norte. According to Lizard, the commander had one more piece of information: Cuete says youre a no-good. Everybody knows that. Regardless, the compilation had limited success, and never took off like the G.U.N. Nuestra Familia members in the Secured Housing Unit kept to a punishing daily regimen of crunches and push-ups, followed by makeshift weightlifting with a barbell fashioned from pillow cases filled with books and magazines. Still Sir Dyno says he wasnt getting paid. Lizard said that during that time, he heard two Norteos disrespecting Smileys name and took the initiative to stab them both. Otherwise, he was free to go about his business. 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. If you ever want to help yourself, you can. The prosecutors revealed that Gratton would testify Sir Dyno dealt meth on his behalf. He took the gangs oath, Blood in, blood out, and rose to the rank of captain within a few years. 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. Then, several weeks later, a Pelican Bay investigator intercepted a letter penned by Lizard to one of his superiors. uncovered a hierarchy at Pelican Bay State Prison responsible for For the next three months, he made his bones among Norteos by slashing Sureo inmates, brothers hed once shouldered with. The former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez. Hed began his criminal career as a teenage norteo gang member, pulling off smash-and-grab robberies of jewelry stores. He told them he could go undercover for them. Still, the weekend he got out, he was intent on getting paid.

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