They do not have to get involved in this., Seave said the operation fits perfectly into the Ceasefire strategy. 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. For eight months, officers conducted intense surveillance and investigation of Salinas-area Nuestra Familia associates, who they believed were loyal to the two remaining factions of the gang after Black Widow split the gangs leadership. "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. Editorial | What will future hold for a 'reimagined' Seacliff State Beach? The largest investigation into both the Norteos and Nuestra Familia, this operation was characterized by more than 20 arrests. The California Department of Corrections says Nuestra Familia controls street gangs from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. Ramirez pled guilty for conspiring to murder Raymond Sanchez, and told Salinas police that the FBI's informant allowed the hit. FBI surveillance photo, HO / HO. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS The day before the killing, gang subordinate Martin Ramirez discussed the enemy with Hernandez, who was wearing a recording device. 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 while confined in Pelican Bay. Lock Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. Operation Black Widow. 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. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? He is duplicitous by nature. 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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. Salinas Police photo If he is going to betray one group the gang what's going to stop him from betraying the second the government?". 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. [1] In the late 1960s, Mexican-American inmates of the California state prison system began to separate into two rival groups, Nuestra Familia[14] and the 1957-formed Mexican Mafia, according to the locations of their hometowns (the north-south dividing line is Delano, California). It gives me hope that we can address something as complex as gang violence, he said. 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. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). More than 200 law enforcement agents and officers took part in the sweeps, serving arrest and search warrants in Salinas and neighboring areas. The deputies who arrested her were apparently unaware of the federal charges. You cant win this fight.. 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. The defendants charged in the alleged racketeering conspiracy include the following: 18 U.S.C. Membership in the gang extends beyond prison. They saw today what happens, Schwarzenegger said. 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. Of 44 arrest warrants obtained, 37 warrants ended with arrests Thursday. Its the way we should do business. Of special interest were members who held positions of power within the gang, including Martin Cyclone Montoya, a man who investigators say was in charge of Nuestra Familias powerful Salinas regiment. Ceasefire depends on following through on commitments that if the violence doesnt stop, force will be applied vigorously.. Really? Operation Black Widow. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. When he left prison, he became Nuestra Familia's "street liaison commander" in charge of all the gang's operations outside prison, according to court documents. The Bay Areas top federal prosecutor announced a sweeping array of indictments targeting the notorious Nuestra Familia prison gang, boasting that a five-year operation had culminated in a takedown of the organizations leadership responsible for an expanse of drug trafficking and brutal street violence spanning Northern California. [20] Operation Knockout All were indicted for racketeering charges. Arizona, Florida,[2] Georgia, Idaho,[3] Nevada,[4] Kansas,[5] New Mexico, Northern California, When agents learn a violent crime is being plotted, should they step in to prevent it and risk botching their undercover probe? 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. Federal Courthouse 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. With no leaders in Pelican Bay, generals began fighting for power. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hitt said the case against the newly indicted six grew stronger as the Valley Star trial unfolded last fall. 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. 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. [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. Thirteen defendants have pleaded guilty. 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. Have a question about Government Services? 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. FBI informant Daniel Her- nandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. This investigation revealed the wide-ranging influence of the gang that extends far beyond prison walls. Salcido was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Was the Black Widow investigation, with its 22 indictments and possible convictions and breakup of the criminal enterprise, worth the risk? He could only participate in crimes approved by his FBI handlers, such as planned drug and gun purchases. The Nuestra Familia was not recognized as a prison gang by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation until 1979. 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 . The question of how to investigate violent street gangs and organized crime is one that has troubled police and prosecutors for centuries, and according to law enforcement experts, no satisfactory answer has yet been reached. 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. Julia Reynolds can be reached at 648-1187 or jreynolds@montereyherald.com. The charges pending against these defendants are as follows: 21 U.S.C. Others arrested include Castroville residents Dakota Vernon Casperson and Sheena Nicole Casperson. The NF has a formal written constitution and a membership of approximately 250, with an additional 1,000 associates. 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. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? That strategy was challenged by former Deputy Assistant FBI Director Daniel O. Coulson, who led bureau anti-terrorism and organized crime teams from 1966 to 1997, and who defends the use of criminal informants as "worth the risk" to make difficult cases. [14] Thirteen of the defendants pleaded guilty; the other cases are still ongoing. Gov. FBI informant Daniel Hernandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. The gangsters stopped in front of an apartment building, and Nuestra Familia member Paul Salcido and an associate got out of the car and ducked into an alley. The indictment is the product of a three-year investigation called "Operation Black Widow" that involved the FBI, U.S. It seems to me their primary responsibility is to stop crime.". The remaining nine defendants will face trial next year in San Francisco in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, and the legal proceedings are expected to last two to three years. 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. 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. [21] Renewed organization The gang has strict categories of military-style membership ranks, ranging from a Category One member, who might strive to be the "regiment commander" of a city, to Category Three, one of only three positions on the gang's governing board in Pelican Bay. It's a business. 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. Police heard shots and screaming and swarmed the alley, where they arrested Salcido and other gang members. "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.". U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan told the court that the undercover techniques used by FBI agents during the investigation were "well within established legal boundary." While the physical movement of this leadership was restricted by prison walls, the indictment alleges their power and influence were not so constrained. 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. 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. Salinas police sources say the FBI never passed on information about who had the guns, and Frias says that a number of the weapons are still in use today. 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. 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. The cops had to call 300 people to tell them there were death threats against them. Watsonville police began targeting members of the California prison gang Nuestra Familia. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. 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. Ybarra recorded the anger of gang members while law enforcement agents listened in. He was convicted of. reportedly high-ranking members of Nuestra Familia, are inmates at Pelican Bay -- Gerald Rubalcaba . [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. 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. This investigation revealed the wide-ranging influence of the gang that extends far beyond prison walls. At least one of those sought had Santa Cruz County ties, and several others were targeted in the San Jose area, authorities said. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 13 (June 30, 1986). "Nuestra Familia will be back," says law enforcement gang consultant and former Modesto Police Officer Jared Lewis. "It doesn't matter what he says. Robert Salonga is a Bay Area News Group reporter who covers criminal justice and public safety for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. She previously covered D.C. politics and California lawsuits for McClatchy's publications, including the Sacramento Bee, as a national real-time reporter. 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. That forces police to turn to informants, who by their very nature are untrustworthy. Such would prove the case with Hernandez, who was paid $52,200 over seven months. [21] Nuestra Familia members often use the image of a sombrero with a machete as their gang symbol. Also appearing at the press conference were Chief of the Office of Correctional Safety for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Derrick Marion, Santa Clara Sheriff Laurie Smith, and San Jose Deputy Chief of Police Elle Washburn. A lock ( 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 . 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. And that price is going to be your freedom, said District Attorney Dean Flippo. 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