operation black widow nuestra familia generals

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.. She was served with an arrest warrant in the federal case against her on Thursday, officials said. Some in law enforcement believe that, while fighting Nuestra Familia was worthwhile, younger members will soon rise to take leadership. 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 .. . 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. Most of the defendants are headed to Monterey County court, where they will face drug, gang, weapons and possible conspiracy charges. And the right choice is looking away.". All were indicted for racketeering charges. Over the past decade there have been several high-profile cases in which law enforcement involvement with informants has resulted in legal problems, including the prosecution of El Rukn gang members in Chicago. He was convicted of racketeering charges in the Bay Area FBI case called Operation Black Widow. Summer Lin covers breaking news and general assignment for The Mercury News. In the weeks leading up to Lizard's arrest, Kayln . Operation Black Widow, where murders, assaults and drug trafficking were committed under the watch of two informants working for the government, fuels the debate. 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.". 450 Golden Gate Avenue 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. 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. At their news conference Thursday, local and state leaders, including Schwarzenegger, pointed to job training and other services offered by Ceasefire as the other choice gang members can make if they want to avoid crackdowns like Thursdays. The gang has been around since 1965, according to federal prosecutors, started inside Soledad prison to protect Hispanic inmates. 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. Authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, as well as other drugs. Details: By disrupting gang leadership, we reduce violence on our streets. 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. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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, . Such would prove the case with Hernandez, who was paid $52,200 over seven months. He is duplicitous by nature. Informant Daniel Hernandez, a former Nuestra Familia leader, is expected to be a star witness in the federal trial under way in San Francisco. 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. According to the NF Constitution, the Street Regiment General oversees the NFs overall street operations. The General of the Prisons is responsible for the NFs overall pinta [prison] functions, and the General Advocates Office is the NFs justice department. Tiered just below these three NF Generals was the Inner Council, which consisted of four senior NF members who served as advisors to the Generals and provided a system of checks and balances. A preliminary examination in that case is scheduled for April 1. The indictment is the product of a three-year investigation called "Operation Black Widow" that involved the FBI, U.S. But to those who choose to stop the violence, there are available resources to help them. 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. 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. Others arrested include Castroville residents Dakota Vernon Casperson and Sheena Nicole Casperson. 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. 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. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California has not followed: What should you do? At first, Hernandez came through, providing hours of incriminating tapes. Everyone in the Salinas Nuestra Familia crew was arrested in the murder, except Hernandez, who continued to inform on the gang. It was not immediately disclosed how many of the 19 remaining defendants were arrested in the law-enforcement sweeps this week. Two others, Raymundo Ray-Ray Carrasco Lopez and Adrian Angel Lopez, were charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in a separate federal case. 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. Frias, the convicted triggerman in the April 2001 murder, thinks the FBI's operation may have destabilized Nuestra Familia, but he gives more credit to the gang leaders' own "hypocrisy" in turning on each other for any decline in its strength. 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. [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. A dozen firearms were taken during the days searches. Salcido was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Huerta, too, has been under the lens of law enforcement for nearly a decade. 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." 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." Among the crimes committed under Hernandez' leadership was the killing of a rival drug dealer. While the physical movement of this leadership was restricted by prison walls, the indictment alleges their power and influence were not so constrained. 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. After serving NF for 20 years Viramontes had paroled, for good. from the FBI informant." An official website of the United States government. In December 2000, Hernandez struck a deal with the FBI. 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. [21] Nuestra Familia members often use the image of a sombrero with a machete as their gang symbol. Salazar was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday and Pereda was due to be released soon from a federal prison. "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. The deputies who arrested her were apparently unaware of the federal charges. Reach him the low-tech way at 408-920-5002. 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. Miss Manners: I shouldn't call because the phone scares people? The largest of the federal investigations was 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. 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. "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.". 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. FBI informant Daniel Hernandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. That case, as well as revelations about how a mob informant, James "Whitey" Bulger, was protected by some agents while he was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, led the Justice Department to set new guidelines for their agents in the handling of informants in January 2001. 3553. But neither investigation matched the scope of Operation Knockout in numbers of those arrested and in its aim to effectively shut down the Nuestra Familia in Salinas. All seven members of the NFs General Council led the NF organization while incarcerated in the California prison system. But, according to current and former FBI agents, ensuring that informants comply with such orders can be difficult. ", Ramirez tells Hernandez he believes "it's in motion tonight. ". Police heard shots and screaming and swarmed the alley, where they arrested Salcido and other gang members. He said, however, that the courts have generally given law enforcement leeway in their handling of informants, and Cohen agreed. 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. Ybarra recorded the anger of gang members while law enforcement agents listened in. The inmates who formed the Nuestra Familia gang banded together to protect themselves from the Mexican Mafia, but then grew to be involved in drug dealing, extortion and robbery.[17]. ", Such is the risk the government runs in using criminal informants to help law enforcement efforts. 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. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate the group, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. 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