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. Attorneys Matt Harding and Dan Guess are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government. A few days later, on April 12, 1991, FBI agents showed up at the apartment where Sandoval had been hiding and took him to the Los Angeles County jail. Neither possibility seemed likely, given what Sandoval had learned about TDCJ in his first few months on the job. The inmate staggered forward, blood gushing from his head and neck. Violent retribution is an important activity of the enterprise. I cant honestly tell you why he did it, said the inmate of Sandoval. No one, he seemed to be suggesting, was capable of telling the truth about Luis Sandovalnot even Sandoval himself. Its a society, Luis Sandoval told me of the world he inhabited five days a week, eight hours a day. Eventually, Sandoval agreed to bring drugs into Ellis I. But to prison officials, the story is as familiar as the smell of marijuana in a cellblock and the sight of an inmate with a hand-tooled shank. The procedure is referred to as clearing a TS member or running the lights. Members in prison were cleared by exhibiting documentation such as plea agreements, presentence investigation reports, judgments or other case-related document, to enable higher-ranking members to verify that the person to be cleared did not cooperate with law enforcement. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 things you need to know about the Barrio Azteca gang. Nearly all of them, however, confessed that they knew TDCJ had its share of dirty guards. The short, apple-cheeked Hispanic man with the neatly combed hair and the Howdy Doody grin looked too soft to be an inmate or even a guard. RELATED:21 alleged members of drug cartel-affiliated Barrio Azteca gang arrested in West Texas. However, in the world of criminal gangs, where there is concern for nothing more than loyalty, initiation rites take a different and terrifying form. They blew the paycheck on the slot machines; they had a wonderful time. 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. Like a few other gangs that made it to our list, there are a few different ways to get into Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Sandoval figured the odds were about even. Their initiation ritual may not be practiced by all chapters these days, but it is pretty simple and disgusting. 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. 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. Tango Blast, Aryan Brotherhood and Aryan Circle are the most active prison gangs in the region. And were there in it. One can easily compare joining a gang while in prison to joining a fraternity in college. 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. Even before the call, Luis Sandoval had been sweating bullets. Come on, Sandoval. ), the group has somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 members across the United States (mainly on the east coast), in Canada, Mexico, and in several countries in central America. Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, pictured, is serving a life sentence in U.S. federal prison for leading the assassins. The gang also allies with other gangs including the Mexican Mafia and MS-13. The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. 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. It was their house, not his or the states. Not everyone was so sympathetic, however. West Texas Syndicate Energy is an energy company with practical and futuristic goals, continuing to push environmental-friendly and pioneering technologies in more traditional energy endeavors. After the trial, Sandovals attorney, Steve Fischer, contacted TDCJ officials and asked them to let bygones be bygones. Texas Syndicate, a criminal organization whose members and associates engage in acts of violence, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion and narcotics distribution.. 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. It was a pleasure to deal with an inmate man to man, for once. The Bloods and the Crips will likely adapt to their new environment just as other inmates do. Other inmates reacted to the TS as the TS members had first responded to California gang harassment. Prisoners join gangs, thereby becoming strong, and prey upon the weak. 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. Here are fifteen of the most troubling and horrifying gang initiation rituals around the world. A week later another juror wrote Sandoval a four-page letter, expressing her chagrin that he had been put through all the agony. The main activities of the TS are centered on drug trafficking, extortion, protection rackets, and internal discipline and contract murdering. On another occasion, Vicente asked Sandoval to deliver the phone message that Vicente needed money to buy arts and crafts supplies. 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. You were in the hallway, Smithey said. Not one of them said that Sandoval was a bad officer; many, in fact, went out of their way to laud his abilities. So wed just lay back, let him cool down. Now it was May 1991, and Sandoval was behind bars, his fate in the hands of a Huntsville jury. This coded language is often hidden in an otherwise meaningless letter or telephone call. But that was if they caught him. Berry) Like fat-bellied ships heavily laden with riches, our 19 ewes lie uncomfortably at anchor, waiting to be offloaded. Of course, sometimes a hazing ritual goes too far. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 facts you need to know about the Texas-Mexico border gang. Like any good criminal organization, there is an interesting ritual for all new members, although there are some variations for different chapters. The packages, he admitted, most likely contained drugs. While many of the initiation rites we have discussed here are things that people go through to get into gangs, ISIS (ISIL, whatever) does things a bit differently. 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. The new boots new habit, like everything else, was duly noted by the inmates. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. His assistant wardens run the building. Indeed, Peterson said to me that his units drug problem isnt rampant, but he also acknowledged that much has escaped his attention over the years. But now that seemed the least of Luis Sandovals worries. Eventually the guard found himself engaging in polite conversation with the inmate. Several of them testified vigorously that Ellis I was understaffed and overcrowded, and that the unit was riddled with blind spots. Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 17 members and associates of the Texas Syndicate in connection with a methamphetamine/heroin trafficking operation in central Texas announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash, FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw, and Gonzales . You better get the hell out of here, Sandoval.. Beneath the cosmetic alterations, however, things at Ellis I are just as Sandoval left them. Examples of coded language indicating that someone is to be eliminated include putting an X over the name of the individual or by referring to this targeted individual as X. Additionally, TS members will state that this targeted individual has a green light, or has been designated as a muleta (problem). 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. This time, however, four Internal Affairs officers greeted him inside by reading him his rights and charging him with murder. Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America, Report Waste, Fraud, Abuse or Misconduct to the Inspector General, Find Help and Information for Crime Victims, Register, Apply for Permits, or Request Records. His father died. They now have allegiances with other gangs and have a membership in the thousands throughout the southern United States. For several years, they have been using s*xual tactics to get people to join their ranks. And in March 1991, McDonalds prosecution force indicted yet another Ellis I guard. Prison officials believe that the rivalry between the TS and the Mexican Mafia has produced homicides in Austin, Dallas, Houston, El Paso, and especially San Antonio, where nearly one hundred suspected prison-gang-related murders were committed last year. 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. One juror phoned Sandovals brother that afternoon and told him that in her view the case against Sandoval was racially motivated. Rosas would do the killing, while another TS member held Arredondo and two others stood by as lookouts. I knew he didnt have nothing to do with it. Sandoval put his hand against the wound, looked up, and saw Crippin and McCool standing there, gaping. Sandoval knew this. 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. b. making a financial donation . The real picture presents gloomy evidence of who really is in charge at TDCJnot the state, not the guards, but the convicts themselves. As to everything he had told his investigatorsnone of that was true either, he said. Tejanos were being preyed upon by California prison gangs in some of the most notorious California . Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. [1] The Texas Syndicate has approximately 1,300 members, the majority of whom are Mexican American males aged between 20 and 40. In the tenements across the street from the Texas A&I University stadium lived a fifteen-year-old girl named Veronica, whom he married on June 22, 1985, after learning that TDCJ had accepted his application for employment as a correctional officer, or CO. His wife divorced him. (This inmates name has been changed as a condition of his interview.) One of them is fear. 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. Seemingly everyone in Ellis I would snitch or be snitched on. Id say about eighty percent of the inmates knew he was dealing clamed one inmate who was close to the action. The thought worked away at his nerves. 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 group control certain parts of major cities in Kenya and generally recruit youths from poor neighborhoods. App., 2008) On Dec. 21, 2006, Texas Syndicate members are arrested for the contract killing of Julio A. Serrano. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. 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 following day, Chaplain Alexander Taylor, who witnessed Sandovals efforts, wrote the CO III a letter of commendation. Sandoval described Ellis I warden Jerry Peterson as a good man but a figurehead. Within the prison system, there is a widely agreed upon initiation requirement, and it is that a new recruit must kill someone. Their initiation rituals vary based on whether or not a given cell of the gang is in prison or on the outside. The relationships between gangs and cartels are constant, but show no particular loyalties or allegiances. The question was when. Rumor had it that inmate Jesse Turner had stood between an inmate and a prison official and had taken the blade himself. All of above. And theres always somebody, the ex-drug runner told me, wholl do something for you.. Beneath them in the gang hierarchy are captains, lieutenants, sergeants of arms, and numerous soldiers. Virtually everyone saw it coming. The investigators didnt tell me much, nor was I particularly inquisitive, he said. The Texas Syndicates control of those in prison is so far-reaching that members both in and out of prison follow a procedure by which the TS ensure that members are not and have not been police informants. Recruitment is conducted through social ties and involves a background check to screen for informants.[1]. 'Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' is at its lowest price yet, W&P Porter bowl review: A container that makes office lunch easy, Get a wireless iWalk portable charger for under $25 on Amazon, 5 of the best umbrellas for gale-force winds, Save on this Mandalorian LEGO set ahead of the season 3 premiere. That statistic does not come close to reflecting the actual number of TDCJ employees suspected of involvement in corrupt activities. As of 2000, the Texas Syndicate had about 1,000 members in prisons and jails state-wide, with many more on the outside. Employees come and go unfrisked, unobserved. 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. There is then a period of time during which those clothes cannot be washed. Sandoval told me that he took the money, though he denied it in court. . But they werent enough: A guard like Luis Sandoval would be assigned to a hallway filled with hundreds of inmates. RELATED:Feds: Fugitive Texas elementary teacher tied to hit men, drug running and kidnapping. Syndicate Initiation : Over The Cliffs, And Through The Woods - New WordJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW2N5MbCNEM. He was muling, said McDonald. Then, he is deemed fit to join the gang. There are only weak inmates and strong inmates. When Arredondo got killed, Sandoval was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The assailant was nowhere in sight. The first Texas prison guard ever to be tried for the murder of an inmate seemed eager to describe, to me and to the jurors, the pressures and temptations a correctional officer faces. The guard said he wasnt tied to anyone. Absolutely not. Chow time meant that vast numbers of inmates would be crowded together in one room. Members of the Texas Syndicate maintain regular communication with members who have been imprisoned. Federal, state and local authorities have arrested 17 members and associates of the Texas Syndicate in connection with a methamphetamine/heroin trafficking operation in central Texas announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash, FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw, and Gonzales Police Chief Tim Crow. 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. Prison units are individually controlled by a local chairman and vice chairman. A TS member will attempt to discover the evidence that will be used against the fellow member or discover the names of the witness of witnesses who will provide testimony in trial. Look, man, I think Im being watched, Sandoval told Garcia the next day. He lives in Ottawa, Canada, a desolate wasteland that nobody should call home. There are examples of people dying or being seriously injured during initiation stunts gone wrong. Yes, he had mailed Vicentes letters, had cashed two money orders for the inmate, and on three different occasions, had delivered packages from a parking lot to a telephone booth. Texas Syndicate Gang Members. 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. Change). 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. 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