Seemingly everyone in Ellis I would snitch or be snitched on. When a new recruit is deemed ready for membership, several of the more capable members wail on him for a period of 18 seconds, and as long as that recruit fights back (against 5-6 usually larger men), they will then be welcomed into the gang. The Bloods, Crips, Surenos and Latin Kings are the most active street gangs, while Tango Blast cliques in San Antonio (Orejones) and Austin (La Capirucha) rule the prisons, along with the Texas Mexican Mafia and Aryan Brotherhood. During this investigation, authorities seized over 100 kilograms of methamphetamine and multiple firearms attributed to this organization. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Some of the states most violent criminals were housed there. He was whisked off to the Walker County jail. 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Initiation is one of those controversial topics that has gotten increased negative press in the last few years. To the newer guards, Sandovals stature among the inmates was something to behold. Later, when Vicente asked the guard to phone a number in Brady and ask the person who answered when Vicentes family would make their next visit, Sandoval had no objections. That afternoon in the interrogation room, Special Prison Prosecution Unit investigator Royce Smithey bore down on Sandoval. Uneasy truces between gangs have developed. When asked about it, Sandoval testified that the report merely contained Schapers accusations, which Sandoval denied then and would deny now, under oath. They have their prostitution, their gambling, their extortion. (After the trial, Sandoval became less talkative on the subject of drugs. App., 2008) On Dec. 21, 2006, Texas Syndicate members are arrested for the contract killing of Julio A. Serrano. Are you on trial or is TDC on trial?. With what was left of his final J.C. Penney paycheck, Sandoval and his cousin drove to Las Vegas, a place Sandoval had always yearned to visit. Id say about eighty percent of the inmates knew he was dealing clamed one inmate who was close to the action. [1] Gang members smuggle multikilogram-quantities of powdered cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, and multiton-quantities of marijuana from Mexico into the U.S. for distribution inside and outside prison. Here are fifteen of the most troubling and horrifying gang initiation rituals around the world. [4][5], The Texas Syndicate was established at Folsom State Prison in California in 1978 in direct response to the other California prison gangs, notably the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia, which were attempting to prey on native Texas inmates. Upon their release from prison, gang members returned to Texas, renamed themselves the Texas Syndicate (TS), committed crimes, and wound up in TDCJ, where they developed an extensive network of drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and contract murder behind Texas prison walls. He called his mother, who begged him to turn himself in. Theres no way to shut them down, Sandoval said. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated, following a one-car accident that left his limbs temporarily paralyzed. Their leader is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted criminals. The soldiers and prospectos (prospects) are often used to carry out violent TS business. Whos on trial here, Louie? demanded the intense and steely-eyed chief prosecutor, Travis McDonald, during his two-hour grilling of Luis Sandoval on May 24, 1991. Sandoval did not know any warden, ranking officer, or CO at Ellis I who did not have at least one snitch. There is little supervision, no governing oversight other than the hierarchy, and quite literally the only purpose of these is to test would-be members to see if they have what it takes to serve the purpose of the group. The mule, they believed, had done the drugs himself. The Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist gang that operates primarily within the federal prison system in the United States. Get these inmates in the chapel, he told them. Roughly 33 percent of gang members entering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system in 2014 were from the southeast Texas region, with 90 percent of those coming from Greater Houston. Push inevitably came to shove: In two separate gang confrontations, the Texans murdered one California inmate and seriously wounded another. The 18 second beating is a theme for this gang, and they often employ it as a disciplinary measure when proper respect isn't shown to a leading member or if a member goes against the gang's rules. Members of the Texas Syndicate maintain regular communication with members who have been imprisoned. Sandoval did as he was asked. If the person answers that, he will put down his umbrella and stand in the rain (signifying willingness to share a burden and way of life). But according to one Ellis I officer, Inmates watch everything we do. West Texas Syndicate has always embraced the spirit of a hardworking, relentless underdog. He squinted through the smoke and the bars and the memories. Other members have been instructed to attack strangers or cops, and of course, many of the women who get into this gang do so by offering themselves to multiple members. They are primarily poor children and in some cases orphans. In his first year on the job, Luis Sandoval found himself delivering drugs to a self-described drug runner on behalf of the states deadliest prison gang, the Texas Syndicate. While gang activity is widespread, only about 15 percent have more than 11 members. DPS also cited the 2014 indictment of 55 Barrio Azteca members and associates as handicapping the gang's effectiveness. Absolutely not. Hes bleeding! He whirled and burst into the B-wing hallway. The decision was reached: Arredondo would be taken down. If the recruit answers, "I will share my umbrella," he is deemed unworthy of membership and becomes a s*x slave. The Barrio Azteca gang is known to engage in a wide range of criminal activity including contract killing, murder, torture, drug trafficking and human trafficking among other offenses. Reminded that our earlier on-the-record, on-tape conversation contradicted this, he said, I have my life to think about.I made my mistakes. b. making a financial donation . In 2011, the FBI reported that Barrio Azteca also had members in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. One ritual involves saying a pledge after drinking a mix of wine and the blood of a sacrificed animal (usually a goat or chicken). Alvarez, Jimenez-Jaimes, Accord, and May were already in custody prior to yesterday. Attorneys Matt Harding and Dan Guess are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government. The next day, a Sunday, the newlyweds threw their possessions into a suitcase and a grocery bag, and drove Sandovals Datsun to Conroe. The purpose of the enterprise include the following: a) Enriching the members and associates of the enterprise through, among other things, distribution of narcotics, extortion and robbery; b) Preserving and protecting the power, territory and profits of the enterprise through the use of intimidation, violence, threats of violence, assaults and murder; c) Promoting and enhancing the enterprise and its members and associates activities; d) Maintaining a powerful organization that can protect members and provide financial opportunities through criminal activity; e) Keeping victims in fear of the enterprise and in fear of its members and associates through threats of violence and violence. I just want to take care of my business, he would tell gang members who tried to recruit him. On the fourth day of the Sandoval trial, as if to punctuate the implicit warning in the testimony that gangs till thrived within the system, a member of the Mexican Mafia stabbed a Hermano de Pistolero to death at the Eastham Unit. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Members and prospects are made aware that the affiliation with the TS requires their assistance with the criminal activity of the enterprise when called upon to do so and is an important step toward obtaining higher status in the organization. Leave them on the floor! said Sandoval. Although, they do have alliances with some Hispanic gangs. ISIS calls euphemistically calls this process "marriage"and in many cases, the thought of joining the group is less horrifying for a victim than having to explain to family members what happened. In some of these sects, failure to keep this nasty concoction down is punishable by death. Officials knew this meant that every day from three-thirty until after chow time, activities in the narrow corridor went unmonitored. They were founded in Nigeria over a decade ago, but now operate in several African countries. Yet a former prison drug-runner confirmed the obviousthat without the help of TDCJ employees, the flow of drugs into state prisons would dry up. A long, metal objecta homemade knife, or shankprotruded from his jugular. The inmate, a former gang operative now in protective custody, pulled a hand-rolled cigarette out of his white shirt and lit it. The youth gangs havent caused trouble yet, but the realities of prison life suggest that this will surely change. West Texas Syndicate Energy. Jurors convicted 38-year-old Raul "Fatboy . His mother and stepfather lived in a middle-class neighborhood, but most of Sandovals friends lived in the barrios or in the projects of Kingsville, where Sandoval attended college for three years. Murder wasnt his thing. All of the defendants remain in federal custody. The west end of the B-wing hallway was left unguarded after three-thirty every afternoon, when the guard normally stationed there was transferred to the chow hall. Not only was the event novel at the time, it started the trend of airfield racing across the country. Agencies assisting in making arrests include: Karnes County Sheriffs Office, Guadalupe County Sheriffs Office, Comal County Metro Narcotics Task Force, San Marcos Police Department, Hays County Narcotics Task Force and the San Antonio Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. This past May, the bullet-riddled body of Mexican Mafia member Andres Sampyro was found in a San Antonio barrio. The first major TDCJ gang, a Hispanic group known as the Texans, consisted of former residents who were doing time in California penal institutions in the mid-seventies. By the end of the eighties, the public fretting over prison gangs had dissipated. 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Everybody knew about this scum. Yet Apple Jack went unpunished: He tithed a share of his profits to the Texas Syndicate and gave the supervisors something to crow about by setting up a guard now and then. Ranking structure : Paramilitary/Buisness Territory : Houston . When asked on the witness stand if the hallway was ever undermanned, the reply of Nolan McCoolanother officer working the B-wing that afternoonwas emphatic: Constantly.. house for rent waldport oregon; is thanos a villain or anti hero Is the Stanley Quencher tumbler worth its TikTok hype? The other factor that has led guards to traffic in drugs is the peculiar morality of Ellis I, where rules are never universally applied and the use of drugs is so widespread that officials have to knowand acceptthat prison guards are involved in the supply chain. (LogOut/ An estimated 70,000 in their ranks, they are as violent as they are numerous, and what was once a Los Angeles-based operation, now has interests across the United States and in Canada. The guard said he wasnt tied to anyone. For the vast majority of high school and college teams, at least in the United States, there is at least some form of initiation; and these days, most of them are alcohol-based. The system snitches on one mule while protecting another. After that first transaction, Sandoval went back for morea total of three, four, or five times, he told me, though he vividly described six transactions to an investigator hired by his family. It was not the most hospitable climate for trust, which was something Sandoval felt inclined to consider when Armando Garcia and Vicente held out a letter and asked Sandoval to mail it for them. Sandoval, in the meantime, worked at J.C. Penney in Plano. In short, gang initiation can in some cases relate to membership in a college fraternity, as one cannot join another fraternity once initiated and once initiated, you are a member for life. But the system will not change. It was also a dangerous practice in light of the fact that a narrow corridor intersected the west end of the B-wing and only an officer standing at that end could see what was going on in the corridor. Sandoval took a step toward the crashgate but was held back by the more experienced guard. TS rules are strictly enforced, primarily resulting in violent attacks on and executions of TS members who violate their rules. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. These Texas offenders banded together for protection purposes and became known as one of the most feared prison gangs within the California prison system. Armando Garcia had seen this coming. Around the same time, prison officials expressed concern about the fifty or sixty members of the two Los Angeles-based black street gangs, the Bloods and the Crips, that had recently entered the system. One of them is fear. Unlike most state crises, there is absolutely no mystery to the takeover of our prisons by violent gangs. Eventually, however, Vicente and Garcia began to ask for more than a light. Then hed say, Damn, I wish I had twenty dollars to go buy a couple of beers. And Id say, Just wait here, Ill be back. And Id collect fifty dollars for him. They have more than one ritual to get into the gang, but two of the most common are taking a brutal beating (getting jumped in) and in other cases, recruits are told to murder someone. Word spread through the unit the way it always had, at bewildering speed: Joe Arredondo was a dead man. Texas Syndicate. Apple Jack protected his mule, however, and though many knew of the officers extracurriculars, the hammer never fell on him. 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