Jorge Salazar and Danny Pereda of San Francisco were also charged. SAN JOSE - A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging 17 defendants with racketeering conspiracy, including acts involving murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and money laundering, and charging five others with drug trafficking-related crimes. Staff writer Nate Gartrell contributed to this report. In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indictment|indicted on RICO (law)|racketeering charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders while confined in Pelican Bay . As quoted in Newsweek magazine, p. 13 (June 30, 1986). He quoted a California Department of Corrections memo describing the gang's activities from January through the spring of 2001: "All operations were at direction of OBW [Operation Black Widow] staff with [a Special Services Unit Special Agent's] concurrence and were monitored with audio/video equipment and personnel.". FBI informant Daniel Her- nandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. Outstanding warrants remain on seven unnamed people. He was convicted of. Operation Black Widow. 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. Scott Adams faces 'consequence culture' as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Tom Cruise's 'ditching' of Suri showcased by Judd Apatow's 'co-parenting' joke, ex-Scientology exec says. 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. But Coulson said in an interview that agents should step in quickly if they learn a murder plot has been advanced. [24], Last edited on 27 February 2023, at 00:46, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "Prison Gangs (continued) - Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness", "Authorities arrest 11 key gang members in east Hillsborough", "Bust of gang offers hope for Dodge City immigrants", "Gangs are becoming a growing threat across Utah", "The Marietta Daily Journal - Ga Supreme Court upholds brothers murder convictions", "Special Issue: Gangs in the United States", "Federal indictments crack vast prison crime ring", "Gang raid targets Nuestra Familia in Salinas", Organized Crime in California Annual Report 2007-08, "New leadership, constitution for Nuestra Familia", "Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness", "Eight-month investigation yields 37 high-level arrests", "Nuestra Familia case: Details of biggest gang prosecution in Santa Clara County history", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nuestra_Familia&oldid=1141826410, Drug trafficking, extortion, robbery, homicide, This page was last edited on 27 February 2023, at 00:46. 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. Like Hanrahan, she was often named in witness testimony in the ongoing Valley Star trials in Sacramento federal court. 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. Northern District of California 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. Everyone in the Salinas Nuestra Familia crew was arrested in the murder, except Hernandez, who continued to inform on the gang. But if you step back what does he have to do to move up in the gang? 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. Hernandez replies, "Yeah" and adds: "Why are you gonna beat up somebody when they're just gonna come back and shoot you up, right? but they reasoned it was the only way they could build a far-reaching racketeering case that might break up the gang once and for all. Nuestra Familia are prison enemies of the Southern chicanos who consisted of La eMe, better known as the Mexican Mafia. He was convicted of racketeering charges in the Bay Area FBI case called Operation Black Widow. The suspects, under heavy surveillance, roamed Salinas with loaded weapons for several days. All seven members of the NFs General Council led the NF organization while incarcerated in the California prison system. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate the group, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. He also admitted receiving about $7,000 for drugs and other criminal activities with gang members and to participating in other unauthorized drug deals while on the FBI's payroll. The Monterey County District Attorneys office has since charged her with felony resisting arrest and she remains in the jail in Salinas. 3553. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, Denver just got a direct flight to this Caribbean island known for music history and vegetarian cooking, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Phil Ferrari behind him. If the lawyer's claims prove true in court, it wouldn't be the first time the government went too far. And, in the end, is the expected payoff -- indictments of brutal gangsters and busting their criminal enterprise -- worth the risk of paying dangerous informants who may continue to commit serious crime while under government supervision? Operation Black Widow was recorded in Oakland, CA 2015-2018 Mastered by Jim Haras Mixed by Samuel Montero Torres and Mackenzie Chami Layout by Kevin Gan Yuen Dedicated to Tami Lynn Torres license all rights reserved tags Tags heavy electronics modular synth power electronics Los Angeles about If you like Operation Black Widow, you may also like: "It is extremely difficult to supervise the informant," said Steven Cohen, the former chief of the Violent Gangs Unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York. A preliminary examination in that case is scheduled for April 1. In the Black Widow investigation, more than 20 gang members or associates have become informants or have agreed to testify against others in the case. [8] Renewed organization From cells in Pelican Bay State Prison, Nuestra Familia's leaders have ordered murders and assaults and controlled much of the drug trade in Northern California cities, according to court and law enforcement records. And the right choice is looking away.". At first, Hernandez came through, providing hours of incriminating tapes. Salazar was arrested by FBI agents on Thursday and Pereda was due to be released soon from a federal prison. Slew of child sexual abuse lawsuits could bankrupt the Diocese of Sacramento, bishop says, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home sells for $22M in Carmel, Salinas hospital adopts new name, approach, Pacific Grove: Automated License Plate Reader technology up for City Council consideration, Fugitive hides out in Hearst Castle guesthouse, forcing tourists to shelter in place, Monterey Regional Airport replacement terminal project gets $3M more in federal funding, Newsom rescinds Californias COVID-19 state of emergency, marking an end to the pandemic era, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. [20] Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had complained that keeping the five remaining gang leaders located in the same prison only continued to add to California gang violence, and that they should be scattered throughout different prisons. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI (San Francisco, Sacramento, and Phoenix Divisions), the DEA, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. 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. 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." "It's a typical defense move when the facts are against you, attack the people," said Chief Mike Dunbaugh of the Santa Rosa, Calif., Police Department, which was involved in the operation. The gangs targeted in this operation are responsible for much of the illicit drug distribution and violent crime that has plagued areas in the South Bay, Salinas and the Central Valley for years, Fair said. Prison gang case puts role of FBI informants under scrutiny / Investigation results in 13 guilty pleas; 9 more defendants face trial next year, for fbi-hernandez; FBI Informant Daniel Hernandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. One local police officer, however, was skeptical of the lawyer's claims. She previously covered D.C. politics and California lawsuits for McClatchy's publications, including the Sacramento Bee, as a national real-time reporter. Her attorney Jeremy Dzubay said its up to District Attorney Dean Flippo to decide whether her local case must be tried before Huerta is taken into federal custody. Communicating with paroled gang members out in the streets, Nuestra Familia leaders have been able to order crimes and collect a percentage of the take from robberies and sales of methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana by the state's thousands of Norteos -- Northern California gang members. The operation, known by its code-name: Black Widow, aimed at damaging and destabilizing the internal structure of Nuestra Familia by means of targeting its leaders. Also charged in the indictment are defendants who allegedly participated in two conspiracies to possess and distribute methamphetamine, one in May of 2019 and the other in September 2020 to March 2021. He later admitted the "golf" trip was to deliver two pounds of methamphetamine to a cousin. At least one of those sought had Santa Cruz County ties, and several others were targeted in the San Jose area, authorities said. "The more successful your informant becomes in the gang, the better, the more information you get. Hitt said agents tried to serve Guzman an arrest warrant in Salinas on Thursday but were unable to find her. Taped conversations indicated that on Nov. 1, 1998, they planned to proceed with the killings. Ramirez told police upon his arrest as a co-conspirator in the murder that Hernandez, who had not yet been revealed as an informant, gave the go- ahead for the killing. Have a question about Government Services? Katz said that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that such an argument could hypothetically be used to overturn a conviction, but it has yet to rule in favor of any defendant making that kind of case. Former Salinas Police Officer Mike Lazzarini, now a gang investigator with the Santa Rosa Police Department, was one of those listening in on the murder plans. 450 Golden Gate Avenue A lot of the street violence in the past 10 years in Salinas and Watsonville and San Jose stems from this, and in the prison yards too.. Three gang members later said in interviews or police reports that Hernandez gave a "green light" to commit the murder. It is clear they have hard and fast rules, and those who run afoul are met with intimidation and violence that spills into our communities, said DEA Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon. 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 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. reportedly high-ranking members of Nuestra Familia, are inmates at Pelican Bay -- Gerald Rubalcaba . Operation Quiet Storm, as dubbed by the FBIs San Francisco area field office, yielded 17 indictments and 55 charged defendants, prompting an array of regional agencies including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office and San Jose Police Department to serve high-risk arrest warrants Wednesday. In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders while confined in Pelican Bay. Members of the organization are considered to have taken a "blood oath" to join the gang, and are considered lifelong participants. [21] Nuestra Familia's written constitution allegedly states that no member should prioritize women, money or drugs over their membership in the gang. The Nuestra Familia was not recognized as a prison gang by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation until 1979. Local authorities hope the arrests will cripple the gangs grip on younger gang members in the area and make existing gang-violence intervention efforts, such as Ceasefire, more effective. The investigation, dubbed Operation Black Widow, was a joint effort by the FBI and state and local police in Northern California to break the Nuestra Familia gang, which police say operated from Salinas to the Oregon border and was run from inside the state's high-security Pelican Bay State Prison. The Nuestra Familia gang, which operates in and out of prisons, influences much of the criminal activity of thousands of Norteo gang members in Monterey and other California counties by ordering hits and demanding payments from drug sales, robberies and other gang crimes. 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 problem is that to break gangs and organized crime, inside information is needed, but such groups and especially street gangs are extremely difficult for undercover police to infiltrate. Despite being locked down 23 hours a day in the prison's Security Housing Unit, gang leaders have used elaborate communication systems to send out orders, including writing coded messages disguised as love letters, using urine as invisible ink and sending letters marked "legal mail" to a nonexistent law firm in San Francisco, FBI records show. And John Boxer Mendoza wasn't some minor player, he was right up there under the top generals in the gang, working for them and implementing Nuestra Family policy. The largest of the federal investigations was Operation Black Widow. In the aftermath of Operation Black Widow, the five highest ranking leaders of Nuestra Familia were transferred to a federal supermaximum prison in Florence, Colorado. But trying to supervise violent criminals is akin to "dancing with the devil.". That strategy was challenged by former Deputy Assistant FBI Director Daniel O. Coulson, who led bureau anti-terrorism and organized crime teams from 1966 to 1997, and who defends the use of criminal informants as "worth the risk" to make difficult cases. All were indicted for racketeering charges. But at the trials, questions about the FBI's ability to fully control its gangster informants are being raised: When the FBI hires a criminal to be its eyes and ears in the inner workings of a dangerous gang, can the informant cease to engage in criminal activity? U.S. Attorney Steven Gruel declined to comment on whether the informant might lose his protection from prosecution, because Hernandez, by his own admission, violated terms of the agreement in which he said he would not lie to his handlers, commit new crimes, or keep any illegally earned assets. 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. 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. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. According to court documents, high-ranking Nuestra Familia members Salvador Castro, Jr. and Raymond Lopez used contraband cell phones from inside Fresno County's Pleasant Valley State Prison to . Before Ybarra and other gang members arrived at Gallegos' apartment, police parked a patrol unit near the building, according to police and FBI documents. She focused special attention to the seven members of what she described as the Nuestra Familia General Council, which she said ran a massive network across 28 California counties spanning Humboldt to Kern, with major activity centers in San Jose, Salinas and the Central Valley. If I betray you, kill me.. Hanrahan was a Nuestra Familia leader from Salinas who oversaw drug-dealing crews in that city and conveyed orders to the Nuestra Familias Watsonville regiment. 1943), The report reflects incredibly terrible judgments, shockingly sparse concern for human life, instances of officials lacking the courage to exercise the responsibilities of their high office and some very bewildering thought processes.Jane Jarrell Smith, U.S. widow of American astronaut Michael J. Smith. Deputy Chief Kelly McMillin said more of Ceasefires signature call-in meetings will be held in coming weeks in an effort to keep potential spikes in violence at bay. To that end, he announced the debut Thursday of a county narcotics and gang task force overseen by the states Department of Justice. 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. Here's the update on the Nuestra Familia-Now some of you might say that this org is not worth worrying about-it's the connections on the outside that are effecting business in the Santa Rosa area. The indictment is the product of a three-year investigation called "Operation Black Widow" that involved the FBI, U.S. The man known as Hanrahans mentor in the East Las Casitas gang, Larry Paqui Amaro, has already been convicted of conspiracy charges in the case and is scheduled to be sentenced in April. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Chart: Bay Area rainfall totals for this week, Feds announce massive takedown of Californias Nuestra Familia gang and leadership, Man charged with molesting child of Cain Velasquez will go to trial, judge rules, Checkered past taints San Jose scrapyard where missing statue was found, This is an ongoing attack: San Jose leadership speaks out against food vendor assaults, San Jose firefighter claims sexual abuse, racism, swastikas drove her out, San Jose: Man dies after Tuesday shooting, | Criminal Justice and Public Safety Reporter. The largest of the federal investigations was Operation Black Widow. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. FBI informant Daniel Her- nandez at a Nuestra Familia gang meeting in Rohnert Park. [ 11] Renewed organization The gangsters saw the vehicle as they approached and, according to the informant, postponed the attack. . 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. He said, however, that the courts have generally given law enforcement leeway in their handling of informants, and Cohen agreed. Several witnesses in the Valley Star case testified that they and others in the gangs Salinas crew often gave Huerta free drugs and helped her with her rent because she was a gang generals wife. The FBI has declined to issue any comment on the Black Widow investigation. This case is being prosecuted by the Organized Crime Strike Force of the United States Attorneys Office for the Northern District of California. This investigation revealed the wide-ranging influence of the gang that extends far beyond prison walls. The federal faction didnt approve of the treaty but the state side entered into it anyways, prompting a deep-seated conflict that continues to play out. The defendants, among whom several high-ranking members of both groups could be found, were responsible for 600+ murders. You cant win this fight.. We're going to take care of it. Thirteen defendants have pleaded guilty. 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While the NF was composed of a relative few, it exercised control and wielded influence over thousands of subordinate gang members in counties and prisons throughout Northern California using such regiments. 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. That forces police to turn to informants, who by their very nature are untrustworthy. The leadership vacuum resulted in a power struggle between prospective generals. Pelican Bay State Prison. FBI surveillance photo, HO / HO. Huerta is known among gang members as the wife of Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, one the Nuestra Familia"s top leaders serving a life sentence in a Colorado "supermax" prison. . 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. [14] Thirteen of the defendants pleaded guilty; the other cases are still ongoing. The operation began in 1997 under the leadership of the FBI and involved nearly 30 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the state Department of Corrections; five district attorneys' offices and police departments of San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Salinas, San Jose, Visalia, Modesto, Tracy, Stockton and Watsonville, among others. By 2007, three dozen of the gangs leaders and associates were arrested and charged with conspiracy in the Valley Star case that is still being tried in a Sacramento federal court. But by April 2001, government agents began to lose control of their prized informant. [11], Members of Nuestra Familia are known to wear red bandanas ("red rags") to identify themselves. Government agents knew that working with such violent criminals was risky. Lawsuits seeking more than $2 billion have been filed against the government by families of people murdered in the course of informant-based investigations. The 17 indictmentstarget several facets of the Nuestra Familia gang and represent the most significant law enforcement action to disrupt the NF organization in decades, Hinds said. Alberto Larez, 45, known in Salinas as "Bird," was taken into custody Thursday morning at his residence in . The indictment handed down onAugust 25, 2021, and unsealed today, catalogues a litany of crimes allegedly directed by the Nuestra Familias command structure incarcerated in California prisons. One FBI supervisor was starkly realistic about the whole process. "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.". Sosa was impeached and Nuestra Familia's structure altered to im- pede future misconduct. Six of the 13 are inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison. Operation Knockout: Gang raid targets Nuestra, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), CIF State boys basketball playoffs: Monterey rallies for win over Kingsburg, Operation Knockout: Gang raid targets Nuestra Familia in Salinas, Avalanche engulfs two stories of Tahoe apartment building; evacuations are ordered, Nursing school admission can be a long wait in California. [14] 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. The investigation, dubbed Operation Black Widow, was a joint effort by the FBI and state and local police in Northern California to break the Nuestra Familia gang, which police say operated from . from the FBI informant." For more than 10 years, one of California's most brutal criminal organizations has been operating from behind the walls of the state's highest- security prison. Both investigations were led by the FBI and crippled the gangs operations after the arrests of dozens of Nuestra Familia members and associates from Monterey County. Journalist Reynolds uses her unprecedented access to gang members, both in and out of . ", Such is the risk the government runs in using criminal informants to help law enforcement efforts. The three Generals of the gangs leadership council were identified as David DC Cervantes, Antonio Chuco Guillen, and James Conejo Perez. 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. Blood in the Fields also documents the history of Operation Black Widow, the FBI's questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the Nuestra Familia, along with its compromised informants and the turf wars it created with local law enforcement agencies. A lock ( Instead, they received 10-year sentences in a plea deal negotiated by the gang's leaders after . In grand jury testimony, a former cellmate said Hernandez ordered 17 stabbings while in prison. Nuestra Familia's new leadership General: David "DC" Cervantes Top Commanders: Daniel "Stork" Perez, of Salinas; Anthony "Chuco" Guillen, of San Jose; George "Puppet" Franco, of San Jose Demoted: Jose "Huerito" Gonzalez; James "Conejo" Perez Copyright 2008 Monterey County Herald Copyright 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. As outlined in the indictment, membership in the NF involved a process of sponsorship, approval, and indoctrination. Teen girls arrested after allegedly riding scooters into San Francisco pedestrians, Internet personality Yo Pesci receives seven year sentence after flashing firearms on social media, Gang member gave 14-year-old permission to open fire on woman with AR-15 after fender-bender, DA alleges, Pollutants were released into San Jose rivers from construction firm, lawsuit claims. One of those was Armando Frias, the triggerman who pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced in late October to a term of 29 years to life. In a $5 million crime-fighting effort dubbed Operation Black Widow, several Nuestra Familia members agreed to become FBI informants; they wanted protection when they found themselves on the gang's hit list, or they cut a deal as the government was about to indict them. Ybarra recorded the anger of gang members while law enforcement agents listened in. Some in law enforcement believe that, while fighting Nuestra Familia was worthwhile, younger members will soon rise to take leadership. The indictments came after a three-year police investigation dubbed Operation Black Widow. In 2001, the five highest-ranking commanders of the gang were transferred to a maximum security prison in Colorado. Federal investigators refuse to comment on the case, saying they will eventually answer in court, and at least one local law enforcer calls the charge bogus. FBI records indicate that he failed to record or report on phone calls with gang members and he disappeared without telling his handlers. The operation was conducted with the help of a highly connected inside source -- Daniel Hernandez, the street general who had confirmed that the green light . "It seems very risky from a concerned-citizen point of view," Zilversmit said. 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Council led the NF organization while incarcerated in the gang that extends far beyond prison walls 1, 1998 they. Federal investigations was Operation Black Widow the Black Widow the five highest-ranking commanders the... Quickly if they learn a murder plot has been advanced, better known as the Mexican operation black widow nuestra familia generals 1986... Under heavy surveillance, roamed Salinas with loaded weapons for several days he said, however, was of! Courts have generally given law enforcement believe that, while fighting Nuestra Familia worthwhile! Step in quickly if they operation black widow nuestra familia generals a murder plot has been advanced members soon... Debut Thursday of a County narcotics and gang task force overseen by the California Department of Justice federal prison more... Red bandanas ( `` red rags '' ) to identify themselves prosecuted by the states Department of Corrections Rehabilitation! Realistic about the whole process in Rohnert Park impeached and Nuestra Familia & # ;! Secure websites Mexican Mafia been committed, and Cohen agreed proven guilty beyond a doubt... Out of still ongoing criminals is akin to `` dancing with the killings to identify themselves dubbed Black! She remains in the California prison system Gerald Rubalcaba Thirteen of the are... Agents began to lose control of their prized informant in a power between... Office for the Northern District of California without telling his handlers under heavy surveillance roamed...

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