Then he returned to Arredondo. Their primary operations revolve around drugs, and they have a truly terrifying initiation ritual for new members. At about five-thirty that afternoon, Sandoval approached CO II Cade Crippin, who was inside a cellblock, observing the inmates. The investigators didnt tell me much, nor was I particularly inquisitive, he said. The Triad is the most widely-recognized of Chinese gangs and has chapters all over the world; basically anywhere in which there is a large Chinese community. Rumor had it that inmate Jesse Turner had stood between an inmate and a prison official and had taken the blade himself. The gate opened. Dont go in there, said the veteran, who then correctly hollered Fight! Presently other guards arrived, along with a lieutenant, who ordered, Open the gate.. Its like a fly in a salt shaker., Today the numbers still favor the inmates: There are 47,751 of them and only 3,500 security personnelnone of whom carries a gunper eight-hour shift. No one, he seemed to be suggesting, was capable of telling the truth about Luis Sandovalnot even Sandoval himself. Members of the Texas Syndicate maintain regular communication with members who have been imprisoned. The task would range from a serious assault to murder. [3] While the gangs maintains its headquarters in California, there are around 1,000 members in prisons and jails throughout Texas, with many others operating on the outside. To the public, the saga of Luis Sandoval will be a shocking revelation of how Texas prisons have spawned an organized crime wave that afflicts the entire state. The most common form of initiation for a male gang member is. But for males who want to get into the United Bloods, they usually have to endure a vicious beating (generally 31 seconds) or give a member of a rival gang a "buck-50," which is a slash across the face that requires a hundred and fifty stitches. The gang mostly deals drugs, with Oxycontin, heroin, and crack being the big ticket money-makers. Alcohol was forbidden, yet chock, or homemade wine, was made in a variety of ways in cells, the crudest method being by letting food wrapped in a plastic bag fester in a toilet tank. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. Like a few other gangs that made it to our list, there are a few different ways to get into Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Just like in the free world. RELATED:Feds: Fugitive Texas elementary teacher tied to hit men, drug running and kidnapping. Sandoval, he was a good kid, said the inmate of the guard who had once done him favors. The rituals, beliefs, and practices of this group came to light in the United States after journalist Hunter S. Thompson spent a year with a California chapter of the gang, publishing a book (amazing read, by the way) titledHell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. To the newer guards, Sandovals stature among the inmates was something to behold. Texas Syndicate: Founded in the 1970s at the Folsom State Prison in California ; . By the fall of 1986, several months after the gang lockdown policy had been instituted, Joe Arredondos cockiness began to catch up with him. Finally, in areas in which the Gangster Disciples (a rival gang) operate, groups of Latin Kings may drive around showing GD hand symbols and then carry out a drive-by shooting on anyone who flashes the signal back. This allows members to function with less oversight, especially within the prison system. Rosas would do the killing, while another TS member held Arredondo and two others stood by as lookouts. The blacks, in turn, formed the Mandingo Warriors. On the other hand, if his superiors caught him delivering inmate mail, they could fire him on the spot. Sandovals apparent relationship with the gang did not escape the attention of the Ellis I population. Once a gang member is initiated, the recruit is under a blood in blood out oath whereas, they typically make a cut on their arm to symbolize their blood in, and that their only way to leave the gang is death, either from murder from a rival gang, or death for treason. The enterprise (hereinafter the Texas Syndicate, TS, or the enterprise) engages in, and its activities affected, interstate and foreign commerce. The enterprise constitutes an ongoing organization whose members function as a continuing unit for a common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise. Hes bleeding! He whirled and burst into the B-wing hallway. The Texas Syndicate, including its leadership, membership and associates, constitute an enterprise as defined by Title 18, United States Code, Section 1961(4), that is, a group of individuals associated in fact. I want to see the mountains, he said. But things got more interesting when Internal Affairs investigator Dale Schaper walked into the room and handed Sandoval copies of his phone records, showing that 25 phone calls he had made on Vicentes behalf were to a high-ranking TS official named Felix Benavidez. Texas Syndicate members, therefore, generally attempt to conceal their association with the TS from law enforcement. The Texas Syndicate originated in the early 1970s in the California prison system as a response to other prison gangs that were preying on native Texan inmates. . But the evidence gathered by Justice clearly added up to a violation of the Eight Amendments protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Leave them on the floor! said Sandoval. Prepare for battle and place the lure in Midnight Den Cull the Alpha Wolf and Pack Travel north east to the Enclave Talk to Aventus Valenti Introduce yourself to Cleo Elsayad Talk to Aventus Valenti Head northeast to the Midnight Den . In a sense, you become a convict also.. None of them knew anything about Sandoval and drugs. The 1985 lockdown put a damper on the atmosphere but not on the flow of drugs. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. There were many times when he said, I aint gonna do this shit anymore. And wed think, well, maybe were putting too much pressure on him. This gang is one of the most notorious out there and has even been mentioned directly by Donald Trump, who has pledged to eradicate them in particular. Probably the most famous of any gang on this list, the Hell's Angels have hundreds of chapters in dozens of countries across the globe. The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato Tejano was the first prison gang to heavily impact the prison system in Texas. Pursuant to this objective, members act to protect each other and to build a strong, disciplined organization through intimidation and violent retribution against outsiders and through strict and harsh discipline of members and associates who violate the rules and goals of the enterprise. 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. The so-called "hybrid members" allow the gangs to grow their empires with increased influence both in prisons and on the streets. Symbols : TS, Tejanos, Texas symbols, long horns, demons, horned dragons, cuernos and syndicatos. But the first six months is hell. Sandoval was determined to tough it out. Upon Arredondos return, they ushered the inmate to an infirmary cell, where a guard stood nearby, waiting for Arredondos bowels to evacuate a container of drugs. Sandoval told me that he took the money, though he denied it in court. If you work at any time for the TDCJ, said assistant prosecutor Burt Neal Tuck Tucker during the first day of testimony, you know how powerful the Texas Syndicate can be.. The Texas Syndicate 2,082 views Jun 18, 2022 62 Dislike Share Save Gangsters Cops and Politicians 3.4K subscribers Gang Expert Gabe Morales discusses the California roots of the Texas. The guards were hired. The Texas Syndicate (Spanish: Sindicato Tejano) is a mostly Texas-based street and prison gang consisting of predominantly Mexican American membership. Whether a fraternity, sports team, or college club, there is a great deal of concern over what constitutes legitimate initiation and what constitutes punishable hazing. So dont try. Guards have been instructed to monitor gang activity but have shown an embarrassing inability to do so. Hey, Boss, you got a light? Every newly hired prison guard, or new boot, hears the question. I just want to take care of my business, he would tell gang members who tried to recruit him. That first week, as he chatted with one of the old boots, the cry came from somewhere behind him: Help me, Boss! Turning around, Sandoval saw a Hispanic inmate standing behind a hallway crash-gate, clinging to the bars with both hands. Garcia, of course, could snitch to the Ellis I authorities. Hey, boss, you got a light? Luis Sandoval pulled out his lighter and, as he had before, lit the cigarette held by Armando Garcia. Everyone agreed that the building tender system was a cheap and crudely effective method of maintaining order. Eventually, however, Vicente and Garcia began to ask for more than a light. texas syndicate initiation. A deal was struck between the gang and Garcia: Garcia would acquire the drugs, give half to the Texas Syndicate, and sell the other half himself. He called his mother, who begged him to turn himself in. Theyre gonna say you were in on it. In many places, it is normal to get "jumped in." Regardless of the members friendship or association with the victim, the orders are to be carried out since the rules mandate that the TS comes first, even before family. In 2006, Andres Garcia was arrested for allegedly luring George Garza, a member of rival Valluco prison gang, and then stabbing him to death. Sandoval is one of more than sixty TDCJ guards who have been indicted by McDonalds Special Prison Prosecution Unit over the past six years for felony offenses. Any violation of the rules may result in harsh penalties, including death. But the sudden absence of gang wars did not mean that the gangs had gone away. With the impersonal manner of assassins who have long since become intimate with the odor of death, the witnessesguards, inmates, and prison officialsreadily supplied evidence that gangs are calling the shots in our prisons. And perhaps he was vaguely aware that the request, if honored, would be only the first of manythat later he would be asked for cigarettes, chewing gum, packs of sunflower seeds, and more. 826 Hispanic members operate across Texas, including specific reportings in the Coffield Unit, about 60 miles southwest of Tyler, and . This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, Austin Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Gonzales Police Department. I cant honestly tell you why he did it, said the inmate of Sandoval. This coded language is often hidden in an otherwise meaningless letter or telephone call. But the report made no mention of Armando Garcia and El Carpintero; nor did it offer any evidence that Sandoval had actually smuggled drugs into Ellis I. Defendants who are charged in this indictment include: *13 defendants were arrested yesterday. One was an officer who muled marijuana and cocaine for a black inmate known as Apple Jack, whose activities were no secret at the unit. In prison, he had come to learn, if you gave, you got. App., 2008) On Dec. 21, 2006, Texas Syndicate members are arrested for the contract killing of Julio A. Serrano. The gang, like most prison gangs, has members behind bars and members on the outside, and as of the 2000's, had membership that was in the thousands (about 7,000 in 2005). On August 26, 1990, a death row inmate proved his loyalty to the Aryan Brotherhood during his daily recreation hour by strangling a black inmate in a recreation yard with a jump rope while the latter was performing oral sex on the former. On Monday, at eight in the morning, Sandoval reported for duty at the Ellis I training academy in Huntsville. Thereafter, inmates made their blades out of hard plastic or made do with whatever crude instrument was within reach, like the cast-iron weight an inmate found in the recreation yard and used, with one vicious swing, to lop off the ear of another inmate. The Texas Syndicate, unlike the Mexican Mafia or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners. The warden would later testify that Sandovals actions were somewhat heroic. But, Peterson added, the hero had seemed awfully calm in the midst of all the bloodshedperhaps too calm. Well, so does the inmate. Arredondo did take part in a different contract killing, but when all the conspirators except Arredondo were placed in administrative segregation, TS members concluded that Arredondo had snitched on the rest to save himself. The recruitment techniques of gangs vary from gang to gang, but generally, they have some common recruitment techniques and requirements. When they got there they found Joe Arredondo lying on his back. Although obtaining TS-related tattoos was once a common practice, some TS members now avoid obtaining tattoos in order to shield their association with the TS from law enforcement. I knew he didnt have nothing to do with it. There is then a period of time during which those clothes cannot be washed. The power of the Texas Syndicate is utilized to create fear and intimidation that shields members, ensures the timely payment of drug debts, and prevents the theft of members drugs or money. Homosexuality was prohibited, yet punks strutted about in their cells, wearing womens panties and makeup. By the time 21-year-old Luis Sandoval, a new boot at Huntsvilles Ellis I Unit in the summer of 1985, was approached by an inmate with an unlit cigarette, his ears were still ringing from a more desperate request he had heard during his first week on the job. There are a couple of rituals that are listed among their practices for new members, including r*ping a woman and sustaining a brutal beating. Formed in the California prison system in the 1970s by incarcerated Tejanos, the Texas Syndicate sought protection against Californios. Ruben Mosso, 'El MIlenio" "FBI: Los Zetas - problema de seguridad nacional para EU," January 9, 2008, "Prison Gangs (continued) - Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness", "Special Issue: Gangs in the United States", "Appendix B. National-Level Street, Prison, and Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Profiles - Attorney General's Report to Congress on the Growth of Violent Street Gangs in Suburban Areas (UNCLASSIFIED)", http://www.communitycorrections.org/psn/publications/TxGngThrtAssessment2010.pdf, First prison gang remains a force to fear, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Texas_Syndicate&oldid=1123850487, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox criminal organization with ethnicity or ethnic makeup parameters, Pages using infobox criminal organization with rivals parameter, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Articles with dead external links from June 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Place the Texas Syndicate before anything else, Understand that the Texas Syndicate is always in the right, Keep all gang information within the group, This page was last edited on 26 November 2022, at 01:12. [2] As a street gang, heavy activity has been reported in Austin, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley and the Dallas Fort Worth area in Texas. One of them is fear. Recruitment is conducted through social ties and involves a background check to screen for informants.[1]. Alvarez, Jimenez-Jaimes, Accord, and May were already in custody prior to yesterday. Assistant U.S. However, DPS downgraded the threat posed by the Barrio Azteca gang in 2015 after considering it among the state's most violent Texas-based gangs since 2010. On the way home Sandoval asked his cousin to drive the scenic route. Prisoners join gangs, thereby becoming strong, and prey upon the weak. A host of documents relating to the trial, as well as interviews with numerous sources involved in the case, have provided chilling details of how Texas prisons really work today. All Garcia and his friend Vicente lacked was a reliable drug mule who could be counted on to transport drugs into the prison. But I was a good officer. Thus, the former good officer now wished to disavow everything he had told me earlier. Each society sustains the other, but the economic cycle depends on a vital link, for the supply will not meet the demand unless the product reaches the consumer. Crippin knelt and lifted the inmates legs. Within the prison system, there is a widely agreed upon initiation requirement, and it is that a new recruit must kill someone. Members of the TS are bound by a set of strict rules which ensure loyalty to and participation in the enterprises criminal activities. Then hed have to do something for us. The roles in the Arredondo hit were decided in either the chow hall or the chapel, where numbers were drawn from a cup. In your house you can walk around in the dark and not bang your shins because you know every square inch, said a former Ellis I officer. Upon conviction of the drug trafficking charge: Castilleja, Luna, Salazar, Salas and Alvarez face between ten years and life in federal prison; Jimenez-Jaimes, Carrasco, Cantu, Accord, John Vera, Josh Vera, Anzaldua, Medina, Villarreal and May face between five and 40 years in federal prison; Armstead and Klasing face up to 20 years in federal prison based on their involvement, drug type and drug amount involved. It revealed a world where drugs and weapons are freely available to inmates, where murderous prison gangs control inmate behavior far more than prison guards do, and where the guardians of law and order have just as much trouble distinguishing right from wrong as do the inmates they are watching. And call for a gurney.. Beneath them in the gang hierarchy are captains, lieutenants, sergeants of arms, and numerous soldiers. However, they also have plenty of killers who ruthlessly hunt down members of rival gangs. The United Blood Nation, who still operate to this day in New York, was a gang started back in the early 1990's to protect members from Puerto Rican and Hispanic gangs, such as the Latin Kings and Netas. He was pronounced dead at seven that evening, a victim of twenty stab wounds. You better get the hell out of here, Sandoval.. And the courier must possess a particular power: He must be able to walk through walls. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has initiated a process, which provides a method for inmates who have been assigned to restrictive housing as a member of a security threat group on a previous incarceration, to renounce their membership with the security threat group (STG). Recalling the letter deliveries and phone messages, Sandoval might have wondered just what he had gotten himself into and how deeply. He took up smoking, two packs every eight-hour shift. The Texas Syndicate also operates in state and federal prisons across the United States, with significant activity being reported at FCI Oakdale in Louisiana and San Quentin State Prison in California, as well as some representation in the Florida Department of Corrections. In some cases, a recruit is instructed to kill two people; either way, a murder is involved. Members of the Texas Syndicate regularly hold meetings (sometimes referred to as barbeques or juntas) where members discuss and vote on important decisions. Company profile page for Texas American Syndicate including stock price, company news, press releases, executives, board members, and contact information 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. The prosecutors of Luis Sandoval not only conceded this but went out of their way to make it part of their case. 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Garcia would later say that he told Sandoval shortly after the Arredondo murder, Man, youre in deep shit. He was on a westbound bus, fleeing the state. The Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist gang that operates primarily within the federal prison system in the United States. Some, but not all, TS members have TS tattoos. ), The Sandoval trial was a rare public washing of the Texas penal systems bloodstained linen. Joe Arredondo was taken to a hospital in Huntsville. Eventually the guard found himself engaging in polite conversation with the inmate. The letter was not what one might expect from a former prison guard. and swallow the smoldering sun. 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. He was accused of leaving a door unsecured and unguarded as part of a murder plot. By the spring of 1986, prison officials had examined every inmate for telltale tattoos, weeded out identifiable gang members, and ordered that they spend the rest of their sentences in administrative segregation, away from the general population. Theyre coming in from work, theyre coming out of the tanks to go eat or recreate or go to school or go to the chapel, said Sandoval. 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. As the free world would have it, there are good inmates and bad inmates. Anytime they choseanytimethey could kill him. There are a few different methods of initiation in this gang. The money chiefly comes from drugs. They have their prostitution, their gambling, their extortion. Sandoval knew this. Arredondo was a Texas Syndicate member. According to testimony, the man who drew the magic card, number one, was TS sergeant Carlos Rosas, a 31-year-old Dallas resident who was serving thirty years for aggravated robbery. Se Habla Espaol Call For aFREEInitial Consultation. The packages, he admitted, most likely contained drugs. [1], Development of the Texas Syndicate was initially motivated by self-protection against the historical "building tenders" in prison. He lit cigarettes, which led to other small favors, which led to bigger ones. Gang initiation is determined either by a formula system, whereas if the member completes all the requirements (which sometimes include killing another person) and the other basic requirements (such as race, ethnicity etc), they are automatically initiated. Cocaine might be referred to by many names including sheet rock, girls, teenager, teener, french fries, bacon, white shirt and flour. Marijuana might be referred to by names including elbows, feed, stuff for horses, hay for horses, green and grass. Methamphetamines were commonly referred to as ice, crystal, windshields, the cold stuff and yellow. Suppliers and customers also use abbreviated numbers to indicate quantity and price, such as an order for a whole onion that costs at least 7 bucks, meaning that an order of an ounce of cocaine would cost $700. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. They are affiliated with local prison gangs and often stock their ranks with young children, some in their early teens (not an uncommon practice for gangs in general). The drug trade was lucrative, and Sandoval always seemed to be hurting for money. Jurors convicted 38-year-old Raul "Fatboy . Somehow an inmate by the name of Vicente had gotten past the new boots boys. The group was started in the 1970's in California's prison system, in response to the need for more protection for Mexican-Americans (primarily from Texas) who were in the Cali prison system. Barrio Azteca members are suspected of carrying out the March 2010 assassination of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee. The brutality of the murder, coupled with Sandovals complete inability to prevent it, made quite an impression on the young guard. No member is permitted to break away from the group. 8/21/2008) (Tex. And theres always somebody, the ex-drug runner told me, wholl do something for you.. In 1967, the Nuestra Familia prison gang (which is comprised of inmates from the northern rural areas of California) and the Texas Syndicate (made up of inmates from Texas) formed to defend themselves against the Mexican Mafia (EME), the Aryan Brotherhood, and Black prison gangs that existed in the California penal system. Their initiation ritual for new recruits includes a pledge but also a bath in a mixture of goat's blood, urine, and tripe. A certain order prevailed, which stilled the critics and deflected the interest of the media. For about three months thereafter, while state officials sought a long-term solution, every prison unit experienced a total lockdown. Gangs still terrorize the prisons. Peaceable inmates who had lost faith in TDCJs ability to protect them now felt less inclined to carry shanks everywhere they went. A man was stabbed twenty times. The order to kill has been given to men as young as 14, with one kid missing his target and then getting killed by police. 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. The only witnesses who said that Sandoval had anything to do with the murder of inmate Joe Arredondo were two convicted felons: Carlos Rosas, a Texas Syndicate member who confessed to actually stabbing Arredondo but was offered a favorable deal in exchange for his testimony; and Ruben Ortiz, a convicted murderer and Texas Syndicate sex slave who was paroled after he agreed to testify. In addition, you will have to deregister from any wars or invasions. Many of the gang leaders who had been doing time are now in the free world, spreading the gang network across the state, beyond prison walls. According to Sandoval, Howard Digby, a runty burglar with a pug nose and heavily tattooed arms, was known as a captains boy, a snitch who filled his bosss cup with coffee and his ear with prison gossip. Tejanos were being preyed upon by California prison gangs in some of the most notorious California . At a given time, Sandoval would stand guard over hundreds of inmates. 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