A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. She remains at large. The more time you can get on someone whos in the hierarchy the better it is, because its less of an incentive to the young ones who see this as a romantic choice of lifestyle, she said. This event put into motion the longest-running gang war in the state of California. Frias, 22, said that in addition to himself, others who received the guns included two gang members, who within months used the weapons in Salinas in a murder and an attempted murder. Summer Lin covers breaking news and general assignment for The Mercury News. The leadership vacuum resulted in a power struggle between prospective generals. 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. ", Such is the risk the government runs in using criminal informants to help law enforcement efforts. Katz said that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that such an argument could hypothetically be used to overturn a conviction, but it has yet to rule in favor of any defendant making that kind of case. He said, however, that the courts have generally given law enforcement leeway in their handling of informants, and Cohen agreed. Huerta is known among gang members as the wife of Joseph Pinky Hernandez, one the Nuestra Familias top leaders serving a life sentence in a Colorado supermax prison. 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. Known as one of the most powerful prison gangs in California, Nuestra Familia has been plagued by infighting in recent years, starting in the early 2000s when a number of high-ranking members were prosecuted federally after a similar complex probe dubbed Operation Black Widow. He faces at least 20 years and perhaps life if convicted in the federal case. The day before the killing, gang subordinate Martin Ramirez discussed the enemy with Hernandez, who was wearing a recording device. According to FBI records, Hernandez handed over the tape of the conversation and reported to his handlers immediately afterward. A spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chair of a House committee currently investigating the FBI's use of criminals as informants, says the FBI is now "in the process of doing a complete review of the way they handle informants.". In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders . Martin Ramirez, right, in Monterey County Court, with Sgt. All seven members of the NFs General Council led the NF organization while incarcerated in the California prison system. You have a potential disaster waiting to happen," Cohen said. But now, police said they are prepared to respond with tactics developed as part of Operation Ceasefire. 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. FBI records show that by late July, the bureau stopped working with Hernandez, and he was arrested on a parole violation. In scale and ambition, the operation dwarfs the two largest cases against the Nuestra Familia: Operation Black Widow ended in 2005, and Operation Valley Star led to a massive trial. from the FBI informant." 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. 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. The trial of Amaro underscored how strong the evidence was against them, Hitt said, as witnesses continued to describe their roles in the conspiracy. 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. If an individual is the target of a murder plot, you have to protect him.". On Nov. 30, 2001, FBI agents overseeing Hernandez wrote in one of their final reports: "Source (Hernandez) participated in unauthorized criminal activity while under the direction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The only idea of wit, or rather that inferior variety of the electric talent which prevails occasionally in the North, and which, under the name of Wut, is so infinitely distressing to people of good taste, is laughing immoderately at stated intervals.Sydney Smith (17711845), A white face goes with a white mind. At first, Hernandez came through, providing hours of incriminating tapes. The deputies who arrested her were apparently unaware of the federal charges. State and federal law enforcement officials chose Salinas for the raids because for years the city has been known as a hub of Nuestra Familias activity. 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: Gov. 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.. 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.". [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. [20], While Nuestra Familia is primarily a Chicano gang, membership sometimes extends to other Latinos as well as non-Latinos. By disrupting gang leadership, we reduce violence on our streets. 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. The suspects, under heavy surveillance, roamed Salinas with loaded weapons for several days. In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indictment|indicted on RICO (law)|racketeering charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders while confined in Pelican Bay . 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. 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. 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. Police heard shots and screaming and swarmed the alley, where they arrested Salcido and other gang members. ", Ramirez tells Hernandez he believes "it's in motion tonight. He was convicted of racketeering charges in the Bay Area FBI case called Operation Black Widow. 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. In early 2008, Hanrahan figured into local headlines when his girlfriend Sara Gracia was named to a Salinas police advisory commission, causing an uproar within the Police Department and with the public. Oregon,[6] Texas, Utah,[7] Washington[8]Mexico, Nuestra Familia was organized at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California in 1965. Following that, the television news show " 60 Minutes " asked if a prison exists that can actually isolate the hardened criminal leaders. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 13 (June 30, 1986). It should bring them some reality that its not romantic at all.. 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. The indictment handed down onAugust 25, 2021, and unsealed today, catalogues a litany of crimes allegedly directed by the Nuestra Familias command structure incarcerated in California prisons. These seven individuals for years led a violent and lucrative criminal organization from their prison cells. . "The problem in this case is all these guys have criminal histories, so you can't say they're not predisposed," he said. If the lawyer's claims prove true in court, it wouldn't be the first time the government went too far. Jorge Salazar and Danny Pereda of San Francisco were also charged. In 2001, the five highest-ranking commanders of the gang were transferred to a maximum security prison in Colorado. In grand jury testimony, a former cellmate said Hernandez ordered 17 stabbings while in prison. Three gang members later said in interviews or police reports that Hernandez gave a "green light" to commit the murder. She had recently worked in a Salinas sandwich shop. 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. One FBI supervisor was starkly realistic about the whole process. The defendants, among whom several high-ranking members of both groups could be found, were responsible for 600+ murders. Before January the FBI had a policy of shielding its informants' identities from outside agencies. The 17 indictmentstarget several facets of the Nuestra Familia gang and represent the most significant law enforcement action to disrupt the NF organization in decades, Hinds said. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Robert Salonga is a Bay Area News Group reporter who covers criminal justice and public safety for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. [20], Eventually, three new generals came to power at Pelican Bay, yet two were demoted, leaving only David "DC" Cervantes as the highest-ranking member of the gang in California. 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 .. . If I betray you, kill me.. This is a carousel. Both investigations were led by the FBI and crippled the gangs operations after the arrests of dozens of Nuestra Familia members and associates from Monterey County. 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. He agreed to abide by Justice Department guidelines that said he must not commit "unauthorized crimes." 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. 1962(d) Racketeering Conspiracy. Ramirez pled guilty for conspiring to murder Raymond Sanchez, and told Salinas police that the FBI's informant allowed the hit. 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. This is not done yet.. The indictment outlines each position according to the NF Constitution. An ambitious multi-agency operation aimed at dismantling the Central Coast leadership structure of the Nuestra Familia gang resulted in more than three dozen arrests during sweeps early Thursday. He would wear a recording device. [23] After months of investigation, at least 37 alleged gang members were arrested during the raids conducted. Outstanding warrants remain on seven unnamed people. He has to in order to maintain credibility.". 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. Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said Huerta has a previous felony assault conviction, giving her one strike under Californias Three Strikes law. The operation was conducted with the help of a highly connected inside source -- Daniel Hernandez, the street general who had confirmed that the green light . According to trial testimony, Salcido slipped on gloves and a ski mask, entered the apartment complex and fatally shot Geronimo Garza, 41, who was not named in revenge discussions taped by the FBI, and wounded Maria Lopez, now 43. They saw today what happens, Schwarzenegger said. Huerta had been living in Castroville and living a low-key life in recent months, often expressing fears she might be indicted after FBI agents tried to contact her earlier this year. 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. Very seldom a white face will have a black mind.Nikki Giovanni (b. Like Hanrahan, she was often named in witness testimony in the ongoing Valley Star trials in Sacramento federal court. Was the Black Widow investigation, with its 22 indictments and possible convictions and breakup of the criminal enterprise, worth the risk? And John Boxer Mendoza wasn't some minor player, he was right up there under the top generals in the gang, working for them and implementing Nuestra Family policy. Under the guidelines, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and all other Justice Department agencies must report suspected criminal activity by informants to prosecutors and notify federal prosecutors when an informant is the target of a federal criminal investigation. Government agents knew that working with such violent criminals was risky. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. The end result was the creation of federal and state factions of the gang that continue to lock horns. Authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, as well as other drugs. Montoya is one of 10 who were charged in a federal drug conspiracy case, facing a maximum of life in prison. While all Nuestra Familia soldiers and captains in California are expected to follow the orders of Cervantes, a small percentage of the gang remains loyal to the former generals and captains imprisoned in Colorado. 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? The message that we are continuing to put out there is that if you think you are going to try and fill the vacuum (left by the arrests), if you are going to choose to move with the gangs and commit gang crimes, then youre going to pay a price. Zilversmit accuses the government of knowing that the murder was going to happen, but doing nothing to either stop it or warn the victim that he was in danger, and he says the money raised from drug and gun deals, as well as robberies and extortion ordered by Hernandez, went to the FBI, not the gang. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. But Coulson said in an interview that agents should step in quickly if they learn a murder plot has been advanced. While the physical movement of this leadership was restricted by prison walls, the indictment alleges their power and influence were not so constrained. She is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and worked on ProPublicas Electionland project during the 2016 presidential election. 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. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. . From cells in Pelican Bay State Prison, Nuestra Familia's leaders have ordered murders and assaults and controlled much of the drug trade in Northern California cities, according to court and law enforcement records. For more than 10 years, one of California's most brutal criminal organizations has been operating from behind the walls of the state's highest- security prison. 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? "You're going to have this guy out there if he's going to be credible as the leader of a violent prison gang, he's going to have to be encouraging all kinds of violent acts.". 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. She was served with an arrest warrant in the federal case against her on Thursday, officials said. Former Salinas Police Officer Mike Lazzarini, now a gang investigator with the Santa Rosa Police Department, was one of those listening in on the murder plans. 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. Official websites use .gov The investigation into the outfit, which had been going on since 1997, got a break in December 2000, when Daniel "Lizard" Hernandez facing life in prison for charges that included murder plots in the course of a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) enterprise contacted the Special Services Unit of the California Department of Corrections to talk about becoming an informer. [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. 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. The three Generals of the gangs leadership council were identified as David DC Cervantes, Antonio Chuco Guillen, and James Conejo Perez. Editorial | What will future hold for a 'reimagined' Seacliff State Beach? Marshals, the U.S. Attorney's office in San Francisco, the Sonoma County . [20] The remaining leadership of the organization in Pelican Bay consists of Daniel "Stork" Perez, Anthony "Chuco" Guillen and George "Puppet" Franco. 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. Robert was a member of the Bay Area News Group reporting team awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for East Bay Times coverage of the fatal "Ghost Ship" fire. For months, gang investigators from the California Department of Justice, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Salinas Police Department, the Monterey County Gang Task Force and the FBI worked to prepare arrest warrants for more than 40 high-ranking members of the gang in Salinas and nearby counties. Four Monterey County Nuestra Familia gang associates face life in federal prison after their indictment in connection with the governments sweeping 2007 gang conspiracy case known as Operation Valley Star. Norteo gang members, who police say number about 6,000 in Monterey County, act as street-level soldiers for prison-based Nuestra Familia, which operates as the parent company of the Norteos. 1943), The report reflects incredibly terrible judgments, shockingly sparse concern for human life, instances of officials lacking the courage to exercise the responsibilities of their high office and some very bewildering thought processes.Jane Jarrell Smith, U.S. widow of American astronaut Michael J. Smith. Operation Black Widow. He was due to be released soon from Corcoran state prison, prosecutors said, where he served time on a 2007 assault charge. 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. Huerta is known among gang members as the wife of Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, one the Nuestra Familia"s top leaders serving a life sentence in a Colorado "supermax" prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hitt said the case against the newly indicted six grew stronger as the Valley Star trial unfolded last fall. Federal Courthouse 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. They do not have to get involved in this., Seave said the operation fits perfectly into the Ceasefire strategy. The indictment alleges an NF oath provides: If I lead, follow. "Informants cannot be monitored 24 hours a day," says Coulson, the former FBI commander. [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. TTY: (415) 436-7221, Oakland: (510) 637-3680 The operation, which will continue to play out in state and federal courts, aims to disband the Salinas-area regiment of a gang that for three decades has dominated criminal activity in farm towns across Northern California. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Really? "The more successful your informant becomes in the gang, the better, the more information you get. But, according to current and former FBI agents, ensuring that informants comply with such orders can be difficult. "If (suspects) commit a single overt act that furthers the conspiracy -- buying a gun or a car, for example -- that's enough to arrest them. Occasionally a black face goes with a white mind. 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. 3553. Hernandez replies, "Yeah" and adds: "Why are you gonna beat up somebody when they're just gonna come back and shoot you up, right? 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. [8] Renewed organization According to the transcripts, the group discussed the purchase of black ski masks, gloves and walkie-talkies to be used for the hits, and even the type of bullets to be fired. Membership in the gang extends beyond prison. Operation Black Widow, where murders, assaults and drug trafficking were committed under the watch of two informants working for the government, fuels the debate. We will continue to look at these organizations structurally to disrupt and dismantle them., According to the indictment, the 17 racketeering defendants were members and associates of the Nuestra Familia (NF) prison gang, a violent and lucrative organization formed in the 1960s. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? Here's the update on the Nuestra Familia-Now some of you might say that this org is not worth worrying about-it's the connections on the outside that are effecting business in the Santa Rosa area. 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