Huerta received the NF drug proceeds and methamphetamine as a fee for facilitating communication between her husband and others. Zarate and Maldonado pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering involving the Nuestra Familia, a Northern California-based prison gang that lords over the Norteos and other affiliates in the area. membership can also alleviate the psychological harm imposed by "She wasn't performing duties the way the generals wanted," the investigator said. The NF fell into disarray, and Casper was still undercover when the chaos began. In an intercepted prison message, Nuestra Familia leaders explained that Crystal Morado was killed because she was no longer "functioning," according to a specialist who has investigated the gang for federal and state agencies for 15 years. At the direction of Andrew Cervantes, Larez instructed his subordinates to send proceeds from their criminal activities to the commissary accounts of gang leaders incarcerated in several BOP facilities, including the account of Andrew Cervantes. Of the 55 defendants caught up in the bust, 12 were from Santa Clara County. In September, 2011, Henry Cervantes stabbed two people to death in an apartment in Oakland. The Nuestra Familia gang's motto is "blood in, blood out", meaning that they get in the gang by shedding blood, and they get out by death. On 24 January 2001 in Tracy, California, Casper set up a meeting with NF chiefs, which was monitored. While the NF was composed of a relative few, it exercised control and wielded influence over thousands of subordinate gang members in counties and prisons throughout Northern California using such regiments. "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," said Fair. El Espritu Santo puede guiar a la familia. During the robbery, Jaime Cervantes beat one victim over the head with a baseball bat and another victim was shot. Crime and Public Safety | There are currently 36 defendants in federal custody, Hinds said, with those previously incarcerated in state prisons being transferred to federal facilities. Captain Henry "Happy" Cervantes was heard discussing a plan to kill two San Jose district attorneys, but Casper refused to allow the order. Following a series of raids Wednesday, prosecutors have charged 55 people, including seven in Northern California prisons, a group described as the governing body of the Nuestra Familia prison. Crime and Public Safety | DUI jail sentence, he was shot at close range in the head. If I betray you, kill me.. Andrew Cervantes was the top-ranking leader, or so-called 'overseer', of the Nuestra Familia. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nuestra Familia were prison enemies of the Southern Latinos who comprised La Eme, better known as the Mexican Mafia. Zarate and Maldonado admitted to two murder conspiracies in 2018 and 2019. El presidente David O. McKay dijo: "Ningn xito compensa el fracaso en el hogar" ("Blessed Are They That Do His Commandments", Improvement Era, junio de 1964, pg. The final tally left 11 wounded and mafia member Archie Gallego, 25, dead. Both men had support letters from their mothers. 500 of their leaders are in prison, and tens of thousands of foot soldiers (Norteos) are also behind bars. Their violence was turned against those from Southern California living in the north, Lewis said. "While the physical movement of this leadership was restricted by prison walls, the indictment alleges their power and influence were not so constrained. More and more NF members were recruited in the 1980s, and they wanted to control all of California from Bakersfield. In securing the drug trade within prison, the Nuestra On 21 May 2001, heroin dealer Raymond Sanchez crossed into the Chinatown district of Salinas, although he had been warned to stay out of Chinatown. ordering hits and organizing smuggling rings. She faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine. Nuestra Familia (NF, Spanish for Our Family) was created in the late 1960's at the Soledad Correction Training Facility in California. The Nuestra Familia, like all prison gangs, are undoubtedly a highly-secretive, This investigation revealed the wide-ranging influence of the gang that extends far beyond prison walls. Brandon Gillespie said during a press conference on Friday. captains to "re-energize" the Nortenos in Sonoma County. PIX Now -- Wednesday morning headlines from the KPIX newsroom. Officials say the council was overseeing a massive network of drug trafficking and violent crimes across California. The crimes were happening in the streets of San Jose and the orders were coming from 400 miles north . The Nuestra Familia is a prison gang that originally formed in the California state prison system in the 1960s. According to Robert Koehler (2000), an ex-convict and past member sport tattoos of a black eagle with arched wings on their wrists. The recruits are expected to sacrifice their life and freedom, and members are supposed to expect that they will go to prison. Cadena is stabbed 70 times before his body was hurled from the third tier to the main floor of the maximum security unit. They Section XI. We will continue to target these criminal organizations, dismantle their leadership, and return the violent offenders to prison.. Jaime Cervantes was recruited by Larez to join the gang in 2010. AND THE LEADERSHIP OF THE FUTURE Silvia Garca Vega ORCID: 0000-0002-0302-7802 Profesora de Comunicacin para el Cambio All seven members of the NFs General Council led the NF organization while incarcerated in the California prison system. the state. In addition to recruiting "mules," the Nuestra Familia drug operations. Word of the sweeping law enforcement action was made at a Thursday morning press conference at the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. Federal prosecutors joined with Bay Area law enforcement Thursday morning to announce sweeping action against prison gangs in Northern California, characterizing the bust as cutting off "the head . Nuestra Familia leader Andrew Cervantes, 60, aka Mad Dog, of Stockton, Calif., was sentenced to 36 years in prison. Historica Wiki is a FANDOM Games Community. convicts. The NF imposed "gang taxes" on drug dealers and prostitutes to help them gain a flow of income, and in the 1990s, their ranks swelled to more than 1,000 gang members. "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. designed to convey a specific message: an eagle painted black means His job was to make sure that San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and San Jose all had a regiment in place, and made sure that the regiments were going by the gang's rules. Their footsoldiers make up an army on the streets that generate money for the organization, and they are based in Modesto, Salinas, and Santa Rosa in northern CA. Facility, whose purpose was to house the more dangerous and violent He has had to adjust to a life that has had choices no one should have to make. 445). Nuestro General Gerald "Cuete" Rubelcaba ordered the assassination of former NF member Robert "Brown Bob" Viramontes in early 1998, a member of the leading council for the NF and a 20-year veteran who had covered up his NF tattoo on his back and also educated young kids about the dangers of gang life. This is considered "welfare" The Family operates Larez and Henry Cervantes were senior gang members who reported to Andrew Cervantes. Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. The director oversees State Prison around 1968, constructed as a force that could Nuestra Familia (Spanish for "our family") is a criminal organization of Mexican American . He then ordered two of his underlings to destroy the crime scene by pouring gasoline over the bodies and lighting them on fire. They face competition from the Mexican Mafia, the predominant Hispanic gang in southern California (known to NF as "sewer rats" or "scraps"). Casper was sent back to prison for communicating with the gang, violating his parole, and was sent back for six months. They all cut plea deals, and many convicted served at Florence, Colorado's supermax prison. letter of the alphabet, as well as the Northern Star, and the 14 intercepted by a prison guard in Pelican Bay, who found it stuffed The eagle can also be Some inmates One of these was On May 27, 2006, an NF member sent a $300 Western Union money order to Huerta in Florence, Colorado. OAKLAND Two members of the Nuestra Familia prison gang have been sentenced to varying federal prison terms for their roles in the same two murder conspiracies targeting lower-tier members of their organized crime network, court records show. homeland of the Familianos. Assistant United States Attorneys Jason Hitt and William S. Wong are prosecuting the case. Informants helped the task force penetrate the upper echelons of the Nuestra Familia leadership . Ukiah became a meeting place for gang leaders in March of 2000, Three months earlier, in October 2018, Maldonado and Zarate allegedly discussed killing another Norteo named A.R. for being strung out on heroin and consorting with a rival gang. . Stretch, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. "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 . SAN FRANCISCO -- Twenty-five members of the Nuestra Familia prison gang, including its 'general' and 'first captain,' have been indicted on conspiracy and racketeering charges -- including. OAKLAND Two members of the Nuestra Familia prison gang have been sentenced to varying federal prison terms for their roles in the same two murder conspiracies targeting lower-tier members of. At todays sentencing, Judge Gonzalez Rogers found that Andrew Cervantes was the top ranking leader, or so-called overseer, of the Nuestra Familia. The NF oversaw such regiments in Contra Costa County, Santa Clara County, Monterey County, Santa Cruz County, San Benito County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Alameda County, Solano County, San Joaquin County, Fresno County, Kings County, Tulare County, Madera County, Merced County, Kern County, Sacramento County, Yolo County, Humboldt County, Shasta County, Lassen County, Tehama County, Butte County, Yuba County, Sutter County, Lake County, Placer County, and Sonoma County, as well as in Salinas Valley State Prison, Pelican Bay State Prison, Pleasant Valley State Prison, California State Prison Solano, California State Prison Sacramento, and High Desert State Prison. Records of profit from the other inmates. "Mikeo" Castillo, who was in charge of Sonoma County's The album generated revenue for the Nuestra Familia leadership and united Northern California Latino street gangs, which had been feuding. it is not required for an initiate to commit murder. Convicted murderer charged in 1980 cold case slaying of woman found in rural Solano County to Colorado, where they were later incarcerated and subsequently Nor is it required According to court documents, Huerta is the wife of a Nuestra Familia general Joseph Pinky Hernandez. employ scanner radios to monitor police transmissions. Five days after Castillo was released from a short, Alberto Larez, 48, aka Bird, of Salinas, Calif., was sentenced to life plus ten years in prison; Jaime Cervantes, 33, aka Hennessy, of San Mateo, Calif., was sentenced to 32 years in prison. Further, the indictment describes the appointment by these leaders of NF members to positions of power over hierarchical and paramilitary structures called regiments, imposed on its gang members operating on the streets in California. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI (San Francisco, Sacramento, and Phoenix Divisions), the DEA, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. DOJ NF indictment 082521, 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. The money was then sent up the chain to high ranking members in prison. of the Familia is an impossibility, with the gang's tentacles spanning 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 Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon. In June 2001, Operation Black Widow ended, with 21 NF gang leaders arrested. then forward the correct debt sum to the financial minister. 1, and the Netas. Through exclusive interviews with NF members and law enforcement personnel, this program describes Nuestra Familia's formation by convicts inside the prisons of northern California, its military-like structure, its dismaying power throughout the region and the U.S., and Operation . The . Most of them occurred in K-Pod, a cell block in the jail that housed Nortenos exclusively. 3553. TTY: (415) 436-7221, Oakland: (510) 637-3680 Frias did not get the orders to not kill him, and a hidden security camera showed Frias shooting Sanchez in the back of the neck - Sanchez was killed, and he fell into the alley. History [] Origins []. Fair said the Nuestra Familia prison gang worked with other gangs such as Norteos, El Hoyo Grande, and San Jose Palmas with the effects felt across communities in the Bay Area and California. The gang is allies with the Bloods, Crips, and Black Guerrilla Family, while it is hostile towards the Mexican Mafia, Mexikanemi, MS-13, Texas Syndicate, Fresno Bulldogs, Nazi Lowriders,Aryan Brotherhood, Public Enemy No. La Nuestra Familia was formed in Folsom "While the physical movement of this leadership was restricted by prison walls, the indictment alleges that their power and influence were not so constrained.". The main targets of the investigation including alleged members of the Nuestra Familias leadership counsel are still in federal detention awaiting a resolution to their cases. In graffiti, this black eagle points north. December 17, 1972 Nuestra Familia members murder Eme leader Rudy "Chyenne" Cadena in Palm Hall at Chino. In January 2015, one of the men also identified by prosecutors in the indictment, Vincent Gerald "Chente" Garcia, 51, received 35 years to life in prison for his role as a Nuestra Familia. a "capitol," or "power base," in the Limon Correctional Nuestra Familia is a prison gang that originally formed in the California state prison system in the 1960s. Feds: 'Head of the Snake' Taken Down In Nuestra Familia Prison Gang Bust, Public File for KBCW-TV / KBCW 44 Cable 12. Although he was not a Nuestra Familia member anymore (he dropped out), he wanted to sell his drugs in the same place. dress, as well as how to rob banks, armored cars, and private homes in crippling certain operations of the Familia, most investigators It consists of more than 20,000 members inside and outside of prison. In March 2013, the inmate whom Andrew Cervantes believed had violated gang rules was assaulted and stabbed by two Nuestra Familia inmates in the prison dining facility and survived. The indictment alleges an NF oath provides: If I lead, follow. is a security chief, who manages the less prestigious level 4 inmates, "Today's operation strikes a substantial blow to Nuestra Familia leadership. They bring in millions of dollars through the drug trade, but prostitution, extortion, and identity theft are also major rings. Catalog; For You; Los Gatos Weekly Times. Nuestra Familia leaders control and direct the gang's criminal activities both inside and outside of the prison system. As the Chicano Nuestra Familia is a Mexican - American prison gang that was founded in Soledad prison, California in 1968. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. READ MORE: Feds: 'Head of the Snake' Taken Down In Nuestra Familia Prison Gang Bust. Prosecution wraps case in Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Dozens dead in Greeces worst rail disaster. He makes sure that business is conducted according The security chief prevents the intrusion of inmates into the Familia's Violent Offenders: Evidence and Treatment, Prison Suicide: Methods, Risk, and Prevention, Executions and Execution Rates (by State), Childhood Psychopathy Scale (CPS) (41-Item Version), Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Jung Self-Rating Scale for Depression (SDS), Borderline Personality Disorder Self-Report, California Psychological Inventory (Socialization), Correctional Mental Health Screening for Men, During Christmas Day, five women at George W. 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