Attorney General Brown disagreed, saying he learned when he was mayor of Oakland that only constant suppression works with hard-core gang members. 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. To join Nuestra Familia ("Our Family") and rise in its ranks takes years of studying the gang's written constitution, training, and committing violent crimes inside and outside of prison. The gangsters saw the vehicle as they approached and, according to the informant, postponed the attack. Experts say the new guidelines were designed to provide outside checks and balances for the FBI without hindering agents' ability to do their jobs. 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." Blood in the Fields also documents the history of Operation Black Widow, the FBI's questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the Nuestra Familia, along with its compromised informants and the turf wars it created with local law enforcement agencies. 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. In the weeks leading up to Lizard's arrest, Kayln . 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. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? Two of the indictments centered on a dozen people split between two San Jose-based Norteo gangs, alleging a string of crimes involving drug running, robberies, attempted murder and murder, acting Northern California U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds said at a Thursday news conference. [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. . He later admitted the "golf" trip was to deliver two pounds of methamphetamine to a cousin. Hernandez cut a plea deal. Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said Huerta has a previous felony assault conviction, giving her one strike under Californias Three Strikes law. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 4 Nuestra Familia gang members face life after, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), 4 Nuestra Familia gang members face life after indictment from Operation Valley Star, Avalanche engulfs two stories of Tahoe apartment building; evacuations are ordered, Nursing school admission can be a long wait in California. But officials say it soon expanded outside, and over the last three-and-a-half decades has carried out hundreds of murders and thousands of robberies, staking its claim to its turf with intimidation and violence. "The problem in this case is all these guys have criminal histories, so you can't say they're not predisposed," he said. The FBI said gang commanders sent orders from six prisons in the state: Pelican Bay State Prison, High Desert State Prison, California State Prison-Sacramento, California State Prison-Solano, Pleasant Valley State Prison and Salinas Valley State Prison. 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 prisonin Colorado. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California has not followed: What should you do? A locked padlock FBI records show that by late July, the bureau stopped working with Hernandez, and he was arrested on a parole violation. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. He would wear a recording device. A San Jose native, he graduated from UCLA with a BA degree in history and from the University of Maryland with a MA degree in journalism. But a few higher-level suspects, including Montoya, are headed to federal court, where arraignments were under way Thursday. It's all false.". Really? 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 indictments came after a three-year police investigation dubbed Operation Black Widow. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. But trying to supervise violent criminals is akin to "dancing with the devil.". Amaro also faces life in federal prison. Her attorney Jeremy Dzubay said its up to District Attorney Dean Flippo to decide whether her local case must be tried before Huerta is taken into federal custody. A task force of law enforcement agents listening in learned that Nuestra Familia member Hector Gallegos was scheduled to be the first victim. But San Francisco attorney Marc Zilversmit contends the government's own legal filings reveal a federal role in the brutal prison-based gang, and raise troubling questions about how far the FBI can take an undercover operation. In 2001, the five highest-ranking commanders of the gang were transferred to a maximum security prison in Colorado. Lock The indictment outlines that the Nuestra Familia used hierarchical and paramilitary structures to control thousands of California gang members and counties across Northern California even while most of the top leadership was incarcerated.. State gang czar Paul Seave said he was pleased that so many law enforcement agencies came together. 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. All seven members of the NFs General Council led the NF organization while incarcerated in the California prison system. Thirteen defendants have pleaded guilty. "Together, the government and Hernandez ran the street operations, installing a new organization, promoting and demoting members, setting up gun and drug deals, and espousing a philosophy of violence that eventually led to the death of a rival drug dealer, Raymond Sanchez," Zilversmit wrote in a 51-page statement filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco in support of his motion to dismiss charges against his client, Armando "Suave" Heredia. Operation Knockout: Gang raid targets Nuestra, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), CIF State boys basketball playoffs: Monterey rallies for win over Kingsburg, Operation Knockout: Gang raid targets Nuestra Familia in Salinas, Avalanche engulfs two stories of Tahoe apartment building; evacuations are ordered, Nursing school admission can be a long wait in California. The judge agreed, saying "the government has presented substantial evidence suggesting that the government's role in the affairs of the Nuestra Familia was at most that of a facilitator" and, citing legal precedent, was not "tantamount to the 'engineering and direction of the criminal enterprise from start to finish.' 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. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). He said, however, that the courts have generally given law enforcement leeway in their handling of informants, and Cohen agreed. As outlined in the indictment, membership in the NF involved a process of sponsorship, approval, and indoctrination. If I stumble, push me. When confronted about unauthorized trips, Hernandez said he slipped away without permission to play golf in Stockton. She was served with an arrest warrant in the federal case against her on Thursday, officials said. According to the indictment, NF members and associates were involved in plots to kill 14 victims between April 2013 and July 2019 as part of the charged racketeering conspiracy. TTY: (415) 436-7221, Oakland: (510) 637-3680 But, according to current and former FBI agents, ensuring that informants comply with such orders can be difficult. As San Francisco lawyer Mark Zilversmit, an attorney for one of the indicted Nuestra Familia members, notes, "That operative who's now working for the government is going to have to do some pretty bad things. [15] The gang's main sources of income are distributing cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine within prison systems as well as in the community and extorting drug distributors on the streets.[16]. Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. 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. If it comes to it we have no choice but if we have a choice in the matter, then let's make it the right choice. Official websites use .gov Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. By late June 2001, according to FBI records, information from other informants showed that Hernandez had lied to his FBI handlers on other matters. One incident that raises questions about the investigation involves FBI informant Joe Ybarra, through whom investigators tracked a revenge murder plot through the streets of Salinas but postponed making arrests; in the interim, a man was killed and his companion seriously wounded. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California have declined to comment on the allegations in Zilversmit's filing. Police heard shots and screaming and swarmed the alley, where they arrested Salcido and other gang members. [18] The spark that led to the ongoing war between Nuestra Familia and members of the Mexican Mafia involved a situation in 1965 in which a member of La eMe stole a pair of shoes from a Northerner at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy. Hernandez was a big catch. Operation Black Widow. 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. [11], Members of Nuestra Familia are known to wear red bandanas ("red rags") to identify themselves. The charges pending against these defendants are as follows: 21 U.S.C. Federal Courthouse Defense attorneys lost a motion to dismiss the case, based on a claim that the government was responsible for murder and assault because it essentially ran Nuestra Familia activities through its informant Daniel Hernandez, who commanded the gang's street operations outside of prison. Jorge Salazar and Danny Pereda of San Francisco were also charged. Have a question about Government Services? She remains at large. For the FBI, infiltrating such an organization from the outside was virtually impossible. A lock ( When agents learn a violent crime is being plotted, should they step in to prevent it and risk botching their undercover probe? The indictment also describes the NFs organizational structure and, in particular, the gangs governing body: a seven-member General Council, made up of three Generals and a four-member Inner Council, which makes significant decisions and oversees the activities of the NF and its subservient gangs. Also charged in the indictment are defendants who allegedly participated in two conspiracies to possess and distribute methamphetamine, one in May of 2019 and the other in September 2020 to March 2021. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. 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. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. [22], 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. In the late 1990s, law enforcement officials put into action the only plan that could crack open the violent criminal enterprise -- getting someone from the inside to turn on his brethren. A decade ago, the FBI"s Operation Black Widow targeted the gang"s top leaders in Pelican Bay State Prison, as well as its out-of-prison regiment commanders for Salinas and other agricultural. For years, investigators have observed Huerta visiting Hernandez in jails and prisons and then delivering messages to local gang members. "Informants cannot be monitored 24 hours a day," says Coulson, the former FBI commander. To that end, he announced the debut Thursday of a county narcotics and gang task force overseen by the states Department of Justice. To the drug trade few higher-level suspects, including Montoya, are headed to court. Membership in the weeks leading up to Lizard & # x27 ; s arrest, Kayln such! 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