Whatever you want. That 50 percent looked like gold., Sir Dyno claims he never asked where Gratton got his money, and whether or not the jury believes that could be key to his fate. When Lizard arrived in January of 1995, he checked in with the ranking gang member. Sicc OG. You could see he was nervous, Holguin said. That autumn, according to testimony from a fellow gang member, Lizard ordered seventeen stabbings. According to Lewis, the gang grew from about a thousand members in the late 80s to more than two thousand just six years later. Three leaders soon emerged at Pelican Bay, filling the ranks of the gang's mesa, or board of directors: David "DC" Cervantes of Chino, Jose "Huerito" Gonzalez and James "Conejo" Perez. Copyright 2023 What they will do within the federal prison remains to be seen, but investigators said stabbings have increased and communication with the outside has been established through cell phones smuggled into prison. Till Eternity which most people simply call the G.U.N. The job seemed like a good fit. Hed picked up an ounce of weed at Rohnert Park and smoked a few joints with his buddy Israel Silent Mendoza. He reiterated that he told Martinez clearly: no bloodshed., How could I order the hit? he asked. It always does., Even Judge Charles Breyer seemed to question the value of Operation Black Widow. Consider this reasoning using an unrelated example: All chickens are bipeds; John Ashcroft is a biped. Lizards government handlers ultimately boasted that their prized informant delivered unprecedented effectiveness as a cooperating witness. According to a memo by prosecutors in the US Attorneys Office, his unshakable undercover effort will forever leave its mark in the history of law enforcement. Based on Lizards grand jury testimony alone, the US Attorneys office estimates that twenty Nuestra Familia members pleaded guilty, and five others were convicted in courts across Northern California. For the cover art, Sir Dyno says he told all his friends to tell their friends to show up at a park wearing their reds. I wanted my brothers to eventually put me in a position that would enable me to push the Familia into the future, on a profound level.. The unit requires pin-drop silence from its inmates. One of the highest-ranking defendants in the upcoming trial, Its not a good thing, said former San Quentin warden Vasquez. Within minutes, the gang member confessed his role in Nuestra Familia and offered to trade information for leniency. Request a quote for the most accurate & reliable non-lethal training, Get Curious Before Getting Furious: How Cynicism Impacts Behavior On Scene, Authorities say Nuestra Familia's revisions mean more violence in streets By Julia ReynoldsThe Monterey County HeraldMONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. Monterey County's deadliest gang has new leadership and a new constitution, forcing changes that law enforcement officers say is translating to increased violence in the streets. As gang-on-gang violence grew in the late 1970s, prison administrators also began housing Norteos and Sureos in separate cells. He crawled into his living room before dying in his familys arms. As a kid growing up in this small town, David Rocha was a freestyle BMXer who bounced along on one wheel during Fourth of July parades. federal racketeering case, according to court papers. Snow-locked Highway 29 between Calistoga and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, CHP announced Friday afternoon. One of those footnotes involves Sir Dyno who, despite his history of gangsta-rap posturing, clearly is not a criminal on a par with his codefendants. Sir Dynos lawyers argue that a group trial will taint the jurys perception of their client. He rapped about how much money hed make, how famous hed get, how many women he could tag, how many people hed shoot. For months, Dynos attorneys have been trying to distance their client from the rest of the defendants and get him his own trial. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. Eventually, he returned there, unable to cope with life in the slow lane. She disguised her own missives as legal mail from a fictitious San Francisco attorney and sent them directly back into the Secured Housing Unit, where all three gang generals were locked up. Theyre dwarfed by La Eme, but decided to become highly organized.. For penance, Cuete was allegedly ordered to write an essay on the consequences of being a gossip. "He's trying to regroup these guys. There was also the lean and smooth figure of Gerald Cuete Rubalcaba, the gangs most powerful captain, whose job inside Pelican Bay, a fellow gang member told the feds, was to keister the syndicates constitution in his rectum, along with the master hit list which, by now, read fifty names long. Almost two decades later, Lizard still recalls the clarity of that moment. This time, Goose brought bar charts to show drug production and expected net profits. Hed loaded up the hit list and was feuding with two of the generals while angling for a promotion. Thats it. At any one time, an estimated two to three hundred members are incarcerated there, including the gangs top three generals. He was a long way from his former East Bay stomping grounds, and hadnt dared visit his wife and children, who still lived locally. Everyone says they want to rap, says they want to make CDs, but David was really doing it. All you have to do is find out where the motherfucker is, pull up on the side of them., Lizard ended the conversation. Nato had worked his way up in the ranks from Norteo street thug to membership in the Nuestra Familia prison gang. Following his arrival at the jail, Dyno was interviewed by Thomas Ribota, another Modesto detective. They had all their dirty laundry to air out and they were allowing those agendas to decide how they acted, what they wanted the gang to do, how they were conducting affairs within the gang. He recorded From the Barrio with Love, taking his name outside California and into pockets of Chicano markets in places such as Phoenix, Denver, and Albuquerque. Kids everywhere were listening to it, and closely. According to his informants, Lewis says, Sir Dyno was indeed just as the rapper portrays himself before Gratton came to town: broke, and desperate to get famous. I had to.. But Lizard played it cool. Holguin was well known to Nuestra Familia members hed interviewed hundreds of them during his three decades in the system. A judge will decide in December whether his cooperation as an informant outweighs his considerable criminal past. Lizard got away with it, and when Big Smiley emerged, he personally sponsored Lizard into Nuestra Familia. If the underbosses suspected that he was the target of an investigation, they might shun him or worse. Nearby cops heard the shots and pulled in quickly. Lizard swung his weight around hard. Sir Dyno, however, isnt charged with any individual crime, just one count of RICO conspiracy, and his connection to that crime seems to be largely related to his performance on Generations of United Norteos. The rapper arrived dressed in neatly pressed beige Dickies pants, spotless work boots, and an untucked flannel-print shirt a vato in his Sunday best, mumbling his apologies. The immediate and constant communication strengthened the gang. Even though he was broke and sleeping on friends couches, Sir Dyno felt he was on the cusp of the big time, ready to break. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). It is my hope the federal prison system is better equipped to derail the violence.. He returned to San Quentin in June of 1994 to begin his sentence. This is a combined effort to enlighten the worthy, as the time is now that we must leave old attitudes to the past, and adopt new and more meaningful and fulfilling ideas. OUR PUBLICATIONSCannabis ChronicleEast BayGilroy DispatchGood Times Santa CruzHollister Free LanceKing City RustlerMarin Pacific SunMetro Silicon ValleyMorgan Hill TimesNorth Bay BohemianPress BannerSalinas Valley TribuneSouth ValleyWatsonville Pajaronian, ADVERTISINGAdvertiseLegal NoticesObituariesSponsored ContentWriting An ObituarySubmit an Obituary, COMPANY INFOJob OpportunitiesPrivacy Policy. 15 year old Carlos "Casper" Silva a Preston parolee is arrested murders 3 people witin a seven week span on behalf of Nuestra familia. 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 . You see, this is Norte, he growls on Scrap Killa. X-I-V fourteen, dont ever ask me what I mean/I got the gat that will put you in the dirt/I piss on your grave with your mamas feelings hurt.. If he wrote Dear Love, every sixth word mattered. Ultimately itll be a jurys role to sort out the truth, but this much everybody can agree on: In 1997 an NF captain named Robert Huerito Gratton was paroled from Pelican Bay State Prison, moved to Modesto, and started a label called North Star Records. He said that was where he picked up the nickname Lizard, from friends who admired his clandestine nature.. Former leaders include James "Tibbs" Morado, Joseph "Pinky" Hernndez, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristn and Tex Marn Hernndez. Rocha did not seem to understand the reason for the arrest or the charge. Holguin and his team came up empty that night. While members of the Norteos gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteo. He has since repudiated his former gang life, and spends his time writing and speaking to law enforcement gatherings about prison gangs. Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. According to one source, Ribota took the CD to the San Joaquin County district attorneys office to see if it constituted an official threat to a police officer. Finally, brothers were required to learn sign language so they could make the most of the one hour outside their cells. Since prisoners cant mail one another, Lizard began writing Kayln Santiago, a friend from Boise. Lexipol. Cuete had gone power mad. In June, one California prison experimented with another solution to the Norteo-Sureo war. I could rap political, I could rap street, it doesnt matter, Sir Dyno says. Heres my card.'. Police surmise that the order was responsible for many of the shootings in Salinas in 2007, which increased by 50 percent over 2006 levels. And when that rhyme ran out, as it usually does, he went where other rappers go to make up for the sudden loss of material: He started making shit up. I even convinced the government that Im this crazy guy.. Sir Dyno claims Gratton lifted tracks from Gang Stories without permission and put them on Cuete to give listeners the impression Sir Dyno was still on North Star. Of course, once the hit list is reactivated, Lizard knows that his name will sit at the very top. That report, based on information from another snitch, revealed that Cuete was demoted by the generals to the lowest rank for skimming funds and gossiping. They moved together into a Pittsburg apartment, and Nato continued his cousins indoctrination in Nuestra Familia. If you ever want to talk, call me. In November 1986, Lizard tried out these new skills on another inmate and was transferred to San Quentin. One by one, the street commanders paid their respects. His FBI handlers had been clear: Talk down violence at all costs. He also was responsible for ensuring the battalions on the streets were holding fast against Sureos and sending drug profits to help pay the legal bills of their incarcerated generals. But while prosecutors were assembling their final case against the gang, Lizard was drug-tested as part of the terms of his release. According to Lizard and FBI informants, the accounts held up to $25,000. Not only had he given up his post on the street, but now theyd be suspicious that he was a narc. He did not return letters seeking comment for this article. Around 6:30 p.m. on April 19, 1999, Brown Bob was watering his roses. After he was expelled, his parents sent him back north to live with an aunt in Pittsburg, where he continued to. Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. But on his way out the door, the veteran agent made Lizard an offer. Select the option or tab named Internet Options (Internet Explorer), Options (Firefox), Preferences (Safari) or Settings (Chrome). Gratton knew nothing about the music business, but he had bricks of cash and a simple plan: to produce a rap CD that would work as a recruiting tool for Nuestra Familia and also serve to launder the gangs drug money. It remains to be seen ultimately whether this prosecution was warranted, he said in accepting the guilty pleas. In the weeks leading up to Lizards arrest, Kayln Santiagos apartment had been stormed by FBI agents. I did what I had to do, he says. and manufacturers. Lizard and Nato were both soon paroled. Lizard said he shook the tail, but later needed to prove he was clean. If you wish to change your alliance, you will still have to prove to Norteos you are worthy, and the Sureos will want to kill you for switching sides.. He said he knows they may try to find him, but that he will not hide. Sir Dyno accepts this rivalry, and its where many of his raps come from. In the meantime, Holguin had talked to Lizards sister and made a plea: Tell Danny to change his life. So far as you can trust anyone in a gang, hed trusted Cuete. Frias used a pay phone to call another gang member, Roque Boxer Martinez, who said he would bring a .22 and meet Frias in the parking lot. According to court documents, Gratton says he regularly fronted Sir Dyno four ounces at a time. [Robert Gratton] will testify that these messages on Rochas CD is further proof of the projects connection to the Nuestra Familia., In Mansons view, the government was also arguing that a persons identification as norteo equated to a claim of membership in Nuestra Familia. Its as sensible as that East Coast-West Coast thing. Lizard has a thick handlebar mustache, broad shoulders, and is engraved with prison tattoos in Old English script. For now, at least, the final guilty pleas appeared to have pruned back the Blooming Flower. In his interview with FBI agents the next day, Gratton confessed hed concocted the idea for G.U.N. There sat Cornelio Corny Tristan, one of three alleged NF generals. 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