We're going to take care of it. Once the codes were understood and the messages intercepted, "Operation Black Widow" turned up 10 hit lists. The attack occurred in October 1998, after a gangster was shot and wounded as part of a Nuestra Familia internal power struggle in Salinas. He faces at least 20 years and perhaps life if convicted in the federal case. Watsonville police began targeting members of the California prison gang Nuestra Familia. The indictment charges all seven of the members who make up the Nuestra Familias ruling body: the General Council, said Acting U.S. Attorney Hinds. But, according to current and former FBI agents, ensuring that informants comply with such orders can be difficult. In this weeks first upload of John Boxer Mendoza's book, Nuestra Familia: a broken paradigm, he describes how " Operation Black Widow "broke, who all the tar. A dozen firearms were taken during the days searches. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, Denver just got a direct flight to this Caribbean island known for music history and vegetarian cooking, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. The leadership vacuum resulted in a power struggle between prospective generals. The NF is alleged in the indictment to be a criminal enterprise that was created to organize, protect, discipline, profit from, and maintain the allegiance of gang members on the streets of and within custodial facilities in California. Local authorities hope the arrests will cripple the gangs grip on younger gang members in the area and make existing gang-violence intervention efforts, such as Ceasefire, more effective. This case is being prosecuted by the Organized Crime Strike Force of the United States Attorneys Office for the Northern District of California. The gangsters saw the vehicle as they approached and, according to the informant, postponed the attack. For links to documents cited in this story, go to the Center for Investigative Reporting website. Five defendants in the Valley Star case have already undergone trials in Sacramento federal court, and all have been convicted of drug and conspiracy charges. ", Hernandez then lectures Ramirez about how sometimes "we look the other way" when others are selling drugs, though "when they come and try to take over, that's different. "Courts tend to say this may well be something that should be policed internally, but they haven't been ready to give the benefit to defendants," Cohen said. He said, however, that the courts have generally given law enforcement leeway in their handling of informants, and Cohen agreed. This investigation and prosecution are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Such would prove the case with Hernandez, who was paid $52,200 over seven months. Julia Reynolds can be reached at 648-1187 or jreynolds@montereyherald.com. Some law enforcement agents speculate that the Nuestra Familia gang, which operates in and out of prisons, influences much of the criminal activity of thousands of Norteo gang members in California. In the aftermath of Operation Black Widow, the five highest-ranking leaders of Nuestra Familia, James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, and Tex Marin Hernandez, were transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX, the federal supermax prison in Colorado. As outlined in the indictment, membership in the NF involved a process of sponsorship, approval, and indoctrination. Hernandez was a big catch. Thirteen of the defendants plead guilty; the other cases are still ongoing. 13 Nuestra Familia gang leaders names. "The arrests made yesterday, most significantly the arrests of the Nuestra Familia leadership, will severely cripple the ability of this criminal enterprise to continue to facilitate crimes in communities throughout the state and help break a decades-old cycle of violence," said FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Fair. The trial of Heredia and the other defendants is scheduled to begin in January. The federal faction didnt approve of the treaty but the state side entered into it anyways, prompting a deep-seated conflict that continues to play out. Lewis Katz, the John C. Hutchins professor of law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said that law enforcement allowing an informant to occupy a position of authority in a criminal organization would raise ethical, if not legal, questions about the handling of an investigation. The indictment, unsealed Thursday, surprised local law enforcement officials who eight years ago began pursuing several of the defendants as part of a task force named Operation Northern Exposure. Ramirez pled guilty for conspiring to murder Raymond Sanchez, and told Salinas police that the FBI's informant allowed the hit. This is a carousel. In the weeks leading up to Lizard's arrest, Kayln . It was not immediately disclosed how many of the 19 remaining defendants were arrested in the law-enforcement sweeps this week. Federal investigators refuse to comment on the case, saying they will eventually answer in court, and at least one local law enforcer calls the charge bogus. On that day, police undercover vehicles followed the gang members through the streets while a California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked them from the air. These seven individuals for years led a violent and lucrative criminal organization from their prison cells. The investigation did in fact lead to indictments in 2001 of 22 Nuestra Familia gang members on charges including murder, racketeering, assault, drug trafficking and conspiracy. U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said the mass arrests sent a direct message to the gangs followers: Stop the violence. The arrests made yesterday, most significantly the arrests of the Nuestra Familia leadership, will severely cripple the ability of this criminal enterprise (and) disrupt the communications and organization structure of a criminal network that has terrorized our neighborhoods for far too long.. Dzubay said that although resisting arrest is usually a misdemeanor, authorities elevated it to a felony because an enhancement charge alleged she committed her crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang.. Operation Quiet Storm, as dubbed by the FBIs San Francisco area field office, yielded 17 indictments and 55 charged defendants, prompting an array of regional agencies including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office and San Jose Police Department to serve high-risk arrest warrants Wednesday. Soon after, prison investigators confiscated a letter from her to an inmate, saying she and Hanrahan planned to marry in June 2008. Last fall, when Russoniello came to a Salinas gang summit for law enforcement, at least some of the time was spent on the early planning of Operation Knockout. The court also may order additional terms of supervised release, fines, and restitution. Once membership was achieved, this membership was for life. At one point in the transcript, Ramirez and Hernandez are talking about whether to beat up or kill the intended victim, and Ramirez remarks: "Might as well kill the mother -- if it's for a third strike." Deputy Chief Kelly McMillin said more of Ceasefires signature call-in meetings will be held in coming weeks in an effort to keep potential spikes in violence at bay. But Coulson said in an interview that agents should step in quickly if they learn a murder plot has been advanced. Operation Black Widow was recorded in Oakland, CA 2015-2018 Mastered by Jim Haras Mixed by Samuel Montero Torres and Mackenzie Chami Layout by Kevin Gan Yuen Dedicated to Tami Lynn Torres license all rights reserved tags Tags heavy electronics modular synth power electronics Los Angeles about If you like Operation Black Widow, you may also like: [21] Nuestra Familia members often use the image of a sombrero with a machete as their gang symbol. It is clear they have hard and fast rules, and those who run afoul are met with intimidation and violence that spills into our communities," said DEA Special . A high-ranking Nuestra Familia gang leader from Salinas was arrested this week in an FBI takedown of one of the gang's largest street regiments, federal officials said. For the FBI, infiltrating such an organization from the outside was virtually impossible. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. [23] After months of investigation, at least 37 alleged gang members were arrested during the raids conducted. [23], On June 11, 2013, Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen announced the indictment of 48 Nuestra Familia associates on 77 felony charges ranging from drug dealing to murder. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. From our investigation, he appeared to be someone who was extremely dangerous and had a lot of authority within the Northern gang structure, she said. Journalist Reynolds uses her unprecedented access to gang members, both in and out of . They do not have to get involved in this., Seave said the operation fits perfectly into the Ceasefire strategy. One of the handguns distributed by Armando Santa cruz while he was regiment commander of Salinas FBI informant Daniel Hernandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. The government's response had been due to be filed with the court on Nov. 29, but prosecutors requested and were given an additional 10 days. That case, as well as revelations about how a mob informant, James "Whitey" Bulger, was protected by some agents while he was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, led the Justice Department to set new guidelines for their agents in the handling of informants in January 2001. Nuestra Familia's new leadership General: David "DC" Cervantes Top Commanders: Daniel "Stork" Perez, of Salinas; Anthony "Chuco" Guillen, of San Jose; George "Puppet" Franco, of San Jose Demoted: Jose "Huerito" Gonzalez; James "Conejo" Perez Copyright 2008 Monterey County Herald Copyright 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. FBI records indicate that he failed to record or report on phone calls with gang members and he disappeared without telling his handlers. "The problem in this case is all these guys have criminal histories, so you can't say they're not predisposed," he said. The indictments came after a three-year police investigation dubbed Operation Black Widow. but they reasoned it was the only way they could build a far-reaching racketeering case that might break up the gang once and for all. Police joined the FBI in a multi-jurisdictional effort to bring down members of the gang after a crime spree through Watsonville and neighboring cities began in the fall of 2003. The largest of the federal investigations was Operation Black Widow. The NF has a formal written constitution and a membership of approximately 250, with an additional 1,000 associates. Instead, they received 10-year sentences in a plea deal negotiated by the gang's leaders after . Authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, as well as other drugs. The gang has been around since 1965, according to federal prosecutors, started inside Soledad prison to protect Hispanic inmates. 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. Membership in the gang extends beyond prison. The California Department of Corrections says Nuestra Familia controls street gangs from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. tape telephone conversations with gang members and set up organizational meetings in Rohnert Park, Salinas, San Francisco, Milpitas, Tracy and Sacramento that the FBI would secretly videotape. Official websites use .gov Before Ybarra and other gang members arrived at Gallegos' apartment, police parked a patrol unit near the building, according to police and FBI documents. Its the way we should do business. Operation Quiet Storm was the culmination of more than 5 years of complex investigative work. Summer Lin covers breaking news and general assignment for The Mercury News. 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. Slew of child sexual abuse lawsuits could bankrupt the Diocese of Sacramento, bishop says, ID released of Santa Cruz man killed in Bonny Doon solo crash, Capitola officials share wharf rebuild plans, Weekend solo crash claims life in Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz County supervisors reject Andy Schiffrin Planning Commission nomination, Driver suffers major injuries in Scotts Valley highway crash, Newsom rescinds Californias COVID-19 state of emergency, marking an end to the pandemic era, Former Santa Cruz man victim of fatal Kansas shooting, Cabrillo College appoints Martha Victoria Vega to Area 5 trustee seat, Going with flow: How the Santa Cruz water treatment plant took on Januarys storms. Because Operation Black Widow was supposed to be keeping constant tabs on Hernandez, the FBI and other agencies had to know that he was ordering crimes, and that was enough to make their behavior gross misconduct, Zilversmit argues. In a letter to the court, Frias said that a fellow gang member "pushed the matter (with Hernandez) and finally got the 'green light' for the murder .. . San Jose: (408) 535-5061. In the aftermath of Operation Black Widow, the five highest ranking leaders of Nuestra Familia were transferred to a federal supermaximum prison in Florence, Colorado. And that price is going to be your freedom, said District Attorney Dean Flippo. Dec. 9, 2002 -- The FBI didn't just infiltrate the notorious Nuestra Familia prison gang, it allowed an informant to continue the group's violent and criminal activities for seven months, pulling off drug and gun deals and the killing of a rival gang leader, a defense attorney for one of the men accused in the case alleges in a court filing. Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. [21], Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. In April 2010, federal and local law enforcement agencies concluded what was considered the most significant effort to dismantle the Central Coast leadership structure of Nuestra Familia. "It seems very risky from a concerned-citizen point of view," Zilversmit said. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS "It is extremely difficult to supervise the informant," said Steven Cohen, the former chief of the Violent Gangs Unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York. He later told a federal grand jury that law enforcement agents had not arrested the gang members earlier because prosecutors and the task force wanted to gather more evidence in the murder conspiracy. The gangs targeted in this case are responsible for much of the illicit drug distribution and violent crime that has plagued areas throughout CA pic.twitter.com/cyLZ3Uls5c, FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) September 16, 2021, We take aim at the head of the snake, Hinds said. Three gang members later said in interviews or police reports that Hernandez gave a "green light" to commit the murder. [14] At the time of Operation Black Widow, law enforcement officials had estimated that Nuestra Familia was responsible for at least 600 murders in the previous 30 years. But now, police said they are prepared to respond with tactics developed as part of Operation Ceasefire. [20] Operation Knockout But he says the defense's claims against the government are actually more serious than entrapment, in which the rights of a suspect are violated, because they allege the government actually was in a position of knowingly tolerating crimes. He was convicted of. She had recently worked in a Salinas sandwich shop. The defendants are scheduled to make initial federal court appearances before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Nathanael Cousins and U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Sallie Kim today. He quoted a California Department of Corrections memo describing the gang's activities from January through the spring of 2001: "All operations were at direction of OBW [Operation Black Widow] staff with [a Special Services Unit Special Agent's] concurrence and were monitored with audio/video equipment and personnel.". Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown and a host of officials announced the results of the action Thursday. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Attorney General Brown disagreed, saying he learned when he was mayor of Oakland that only constant suppression works with hard-core gang members. But neither investigation matched the scope of Operation Knockout in numbers of those arrested and in its aim to effectively shut down the Nuestra Familia in Salinas. Lawsuits seeking more than $2 billion have been filed against the government by families of people murdered in the course of informant-based investigations. But at the trials, questions about the FBI's ability to fully control its gangster informants are being raised: When the FBI hires a criminal to be its eyes and ears in the inner workings of a dangerous gang, can the informant cease to engage in criminal activity? A high-ranking Nuestra Familia gang leader from Salinas was arrested this week in an FBI takedown of one of the gang's largest street regiments, . This civil war has been going on for quite a while, almost since the Black Widow convictions, said Julie Reynolds, a journalist who authored the book Blood in the Fields about the Black Widow case. Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said Huerta has a previous felony assault conviction, giving her one strike under Californias Three Strikes law. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? While the Mexican Mafia had initially been created to protect Mexicans in prison, there was a perceived level of abuse by members of La eMe towards the imprisoned chicanos from rural farming areas of Northern California. [14] While members of the Norteos gang are considered to be foot soldiers of Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteo. Informant Daniel Hernandez, a former Nuestra Familia leader, is expected to be a star witness in the federal trial under way in San Francisco. By disrupting gang leadership, we reduce violence on our streets. Hernandez cut a plea deal. "Nuestra Familia will be back," says law enforcement gang consultant and former Modesto Police Officer Jared Lewis. Staff writer Nate Gartrell contributed to this report. The end result was the creation of federal and state factions of the gang that continue to lock horns. This book on the prison gang, Nuestra Familia is very in depth and gives a firsthand true account of one man's life in the gang. "Today's operation strikes a substantial blow to Nuestra Familia leadership. Armando Frias, the gunman in the murder of Raymond Sanchez, says FBI informant Daniel Hernandez authorized the killing. According to FBI records, Hernandez handed over the tape of the conversation and reported to his handlers immediately afterward. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. The gangs targeted in this operation are responsible for much of the illicit drug distribution and violent crime that has plagued areas in the South Bay, Salinas and the Central Valley for years, Fair said. Dear Abby: Why do they imply my husband is a freak? And the right choice is looking away.". With no leaders in Pelican Bay, generals began fighting for power. The FBI's Operation Black Widow resulted in arrests and indictments of 150 members of Nuestra Familia gang. Like Hanrahan, she was often named in witness testimony in the ongoing Valley Star trials in Sacramento federal court. ", Ramirez tells Hernandez he believes "it's in motion tonight. The charging announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Hinds, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Crag D. Fair, and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon at a press conference this morning. It's all false.". Upon being paroled after serving more than six years for assault, he would become a paid informant and would not be prosecuted for racketeering in the current federal case in San Francisco, according to his agreement with the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office. He is duplicitous by nature. A check of her cell phone showed gang indicia, the report said, referring to photos of gang members. Thirteen defendants have pleaded guilty. To that end, he announced the debut Thursday of a county narcotics and gang task force overseen by the states Department of Justice. Law enforcement efforts to break up the criminal operation have been extremely difficult. And, in the end, is the expected payoff -- indictments of brutal gangsters and busting their criminal enterprise -- worth the risk of paying dangerous informants who may continue to commit serious crime while under government supervision? In grand jury testimony, a former cellmate said Hernandez ordered 17 stabbings while in prison. Stats to follow: THE FEDERAL PROSECUTION. . The defendants, among whom several high-ranking members of both groups could be found, were responsible for 600+ murders. both faced life sentences in the FBI's sweeping Operation Black Widow conspiracy case in 2000. 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