Can he maintain credibility with fellow gangsters and yet prevent violent acts plotted by them in his presence? Like Hanrahan, she was often named in witness testimony in the ongoing Valley Star trials in Sacramento federal court. The more time you can get on someone whos in the hierarchy the better it is, because its less of an incentive to the young ones who see this as a romantic choice of lifestyle, she said. The FBI said gang commanders sent orders from six prisons in the state: Pelican Bay State Prison, High Desert State Prison, California State Prison-Sacramento, California State Prison-Solano, Pleasant Valley State Prison and Salinas Valley State Prison. Others arrested include Castroville residents Dakota Vernon Casperson and Sheena Nicole Casperson. The suspects, under heavy surveillance, roamed Salinas with loaded weapons for several days. The government's response had been due to be filed with the court on Nov. 29, but prosecutors requested and were given an additional 10 days. But he says the defense's claims against the government are actually more serious than entrapment, in which the rights of a suspect are violated, because they allege the government actually was in a position of knowingly tolerating crimes. Hernandez cut a plea deal. When it concluded in April 2001, after a $5 million. . . [11], Members of Nuestra Familia are known to wear red bandanas ("red rags") to identify themselves. Ybarra recorded the anger of gang members while law enforcement agents listened in. He later told a federal grand jury that law enforcement agents had not arrested the gang members earlier because prosecutors and the task force wanted to gather more evidence in the murder conspiracy. 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. Federal Courthouse 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. Marshal Service, with the assistance of the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office, and the San Jose Police Department, and with support from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, Antioch Police Department, Campbell Police Department, Fremont Police Department, Kings County Sheriffs Office, Monterey County Sheriffs Office, Mountain View Police Department, Sacramento Police Department, Salinas Police Department, Menlo Park Police Department, Santa Clara County Parole Department, Santa Clara County Probation Department, Santa Clara Police Department, Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, Modesto Police Department, San Francisco Police Department, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department, and Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. He agreed to abide by Justice Department guidelines that said he must not commit "unauthorized crimes." The operation, which will continue to play out in state and federal courts, aims to disband the Salinas-area regiment of a gang that for three decades has dominated criminal activity in farm towns across Northern California. Read more about this topic: Nuestra Familia, It requires a surgical operation to get a joke well into a Scotch understanding. A lock ( [21] Renewed organization You cant win this fight.. He previously reported in Washington, D.C., Salinas and the East Bay, and is a middling triathlete. Operation Black Widow. Operation Black Widow, where murders, assaults and drug trafficking were committed under the watch of two informants working for the government, fuels the debate. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Main Office: Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. Alberto Larez, 45, known in Salinas as "Bird," was taken into custody Thursday morning at his residence in . The gangs targeted in this case are responsible for much of the illicit drug distribution and violent crime that has plagued areas throughout CA pic.twitter.com/cyLZ3Uls5c, FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) September 16, 2021, We take aim at the head of the snake, Hinds said. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? Eventually, three new generals came to power at Pelican Bay, yet two were demoted, . She was served with an arrest warrant in the federal case against her on Thursday, officials said. The largest investigation into both the Norteos and Nuestra Familia, this operation was characterized by more than 20 arrests. 846, 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. Three gang members later said in interviews or police reports that Hernandez gave a "green light" to commit the murder. 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. This is not done yet.. 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. For years, investigators have observed Huerta visiting Hernandez in jails and prisons and then delivering messages to local gang members. 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? By late June 2001, according to FBI records, information from other informants showed that Hernandez had lied to his FBI handlers on other matters. [23], On June 11, 2013, Santa Clara County district attorney Jeff Rosen announced the indictment of 48 Nuestra Familia associates on 77 felony charges ranging from drug dealing to murder. Another problem is that in order for the informant to bring in good information, he must be a successful gang member, and the higher he moves in the organization, the more valuable the evidence he can provide to law enforcement trying to make a case against the gang leaders. Arizona, Florida,[2] Georgia, Idaho,[3] Nevada,[4] Kansas,[5] New Mexico, Northern California, But now, police said they are prepared to respond with tactics developed as part of Operation Ceasefire. The indictment outlines each position according to the NF Constitution. At least 37 alleged gang members and associates were in custody after hours of coordinated raids across Monterey County, ending months of investigation that culminated in what some call the largest law enforcement operation ever to target the Nuestra Familia, one of the Wests most violent crime organizations. The end result was the creation of federal and state factions of the gang that continue to lock horns. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate the group, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. Huerta, too, has been under the lens of law enforcement for nearly a decade. Phil Ferrari behind him. At first, Hernandez came through, providing hours of incriminating tapes. 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? Because Operation Black Widow was supposed to be keeping constant tabs on Hernandez, the FBI and other agencies had to know that he was ordering crimes, and that was enough to make their behavior gross misconduct, Zilversmit argues. The charging announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Hinds, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Crag D. Fair, and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon at a press conference this morning. Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. 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. Lewis Katz, the John C. Hutchins professor of law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said that law enforcement allowing an informant to occupy a position of authority in a criminal organization would raise ethical, if not legal, questions about the handling of an investigation. Ramirez pled guilty for conspiring to murder Raymond Sanchez, and told Salinas police that the FBI's informant allowed the hit. Lock State and federal law enforcement officials chose Salinas for the raids because for years the city has been known as a hub of Nuestra Familias activity. The allegations about the way Operation Black Widow handled the case are based on information from the government's discovery documents, Zilversmit said. In a jailhouse interview, Frias said that days before the shooting, he was present when a gang commander placed a cell phone call to Hernandez in which Hernandez authorized the hit. The Inner Council members that round out the seven were listed as Samuel Sammy Luna, Guillermo Capone Solorio, Trinidad Trino Martinez and George Puppet Franco. Hernandez replies, "Yeah" and adds: "Why are you gonna beat up somebody when they're just gonna come back and shoot you up, right? Robert Sosa, at the time Nuestra Familia's General (or supreme commander), was man- dated to administer these resources to further collective interests but had in fact embezzled more than US$100,000 from the group's accounts. Operation Quiet Storm was the culmination of more than 5 years of complex investigative work. One "test" a prospective member must pass to join Nuestra Familia is to have committed at least one murder for "the cause," according to a gang investigator with the state Corrections Department as well as Al Valdez, an investigator with the Orange County district attorney's office and a gang consultant with the state attorney general's office. ", Such is the risk the government runs in using criminal informants to help law enforcement efforts. Numerous convictions were overturned because information about informants was withheld from defendants and their attorneys. Subpoenaed phone records show that an eight-minute call was placed from a Salinas gang member's cell phone to Hernandez five days before the killing, but there is no FBI report or transcript of the call to indicate he had taped it, as required by the informant's agreement 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 prisonin Colorado. Some law enforcement agents speculate that the Nuestra Familia gang, which operates in and out of prisons, influences much of the criminal activity of thousands of Norteo gang members in California. ", Ramirez tells Hernandez he believes "it's in motion tonight. " Hernandez: "Yeah. Unbeknownst to him, he'd been snared in the web of Operation Black Widow, a three-year FBI sting operation that led to federal racketeering and murder indictments against 21 gang members. 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.. 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. 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. 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. Operation Black Widow Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. 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. 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. Robert Salonga is a Bay Area News Group reporter who covers criminal justice and public safety for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Harriette Cole: I don't want the neighbor's kids at my house, Dear Abby: My wife said she doesn't like it, but it's part of my life, Ask Amy: I feel guilty for not speaking up about my co-worker's activities, Ask Amy: I'm your cabin housekeeper, and you apparently have no idea what I do. According to multiple gang experts, one main sticking point was the so-called End of Hostilities agreement in 2012 by Californias four main prison gangs, including the Nuestra Familia and their longtime rivals, the Mexican Mafia. On that day, police undercover vehicles followed the gang members through the streets while a California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked them from the air. Journalist Reynolds uses her unprecedented access to gang members, both in and out of . In all, 21 people were indicted in the FBI's three-year investigation into Nuestra Familia, code-named Operation Black Widow. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This investigation revealed the wide-ranging influence of the gang that extends far beyond prison walls. 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. Four Monterey County Nuestra Familia gang associates face life in federal prison after their indictment in connection with the governments sweeping 2007 gang conspiracy case known as Operation Valley Star. Zilversmit accuses the government of knowing that the murder was going to happen, but doing nothing to either stop it or warn the victim that he was in danger, and he says the money raised from drug and gun deals, as well as robberies and extortion ordered by Hernandez, went to the FBI, not the gang. KTVU FOX 2 SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU and wires) - Seventeen alleged Nuestra Familia gang members were in custody and six others were being sought Friday on charges ranging from attempted murder to. He was convicted of racketeering charges in the Bay Area FBI case called Operation Black Widow. 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. Hernandez, who grew up in Pittsburg in Contra Costa County, has a long and violent criminal history, committing armed assaults, admitting conspiring to murder a former gang member in San Jose in 1999 and to talking with fellow gang members about killing two Santa Clara County prosecutors. Authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, as well as other drugs. Under the guidelines, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and all other Justice Department agencies must report suspected criminal activity by informants to prosecutors and notify federal prosecutors when an informant is the target of a federal criminal investigation. To that end, he announced the debut Thursday of a county narcotics and gang task force overseen by the states Department of Justice. Stats to follow: THE FEDERAL PROSECUTION. In the late 1990s, law enforcement officials put into action the only plan that could crack open the violent criminal enterprise -- getting someone from the inside to turn on his brethren. Montoya is one of 10 who were charged in a federal drug conspiracy case, facing a maximum of life in prison. Very seldom a white face will have a black mind.Nikki Giovanni (b. Pelican Bay State Prison. According to trial testimony, Salcido slipped on gloves and a ski mask, entered the apartment complex and fatally shot Geronimo Garza, 41, who was not named in revenge discussions taped by the FBI, and wounded Maria Lopez, now 43. 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. Police joined the FBI in a multi-jurisdictional effort to bring down members of the gang after a crime spree through Watsonville and neighboring cities began in the fall of 2003. State gang experts credit the Nuestra Familia with about 1,000 killings since it began in the late 1960s, with Norteo gang members claiming hundreds more lives. In grand jury testimony, a former cellmate said Hernandez ordered 17 stabbings while in prison. 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. Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said Huerta has a previous felony assault conviction, giving her one strike under Californias Three Strikes law. That forces police to turn to informants, who by their very nature are untrustworthy. The largest of the federal investigations was Operation Black Widow. 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. Defense attorneys lost a motion to dismiss the case, based on a claim that the government was responsible for murder and assault because it essentially ran Nuestra Familia activities through its informant Daniel Hernandez, who commanded the gang's street operations outside of 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. They do not have to get involved in this., Seave said the operation fits perfectly into the Ceasefire strategy. 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. [15] The gang's main sources of income are distributing cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine within prison systems as well as in the community and extorting drug distributors on the streets.[16]. The defendants charged in the alleged racketeering conspiracy include the following: 18 U.S.C. Among the six men and women indicted March 10 on charges of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana for the gang were Castroville resident Carolyn Huerta, as well as Salinas residents Robert Bubba Hanrahan, Juan Wino Gallegos and Rebecca Guzman. Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. [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. Some in law enforcement believe that, while fighting Nuestra Familia was worthwhile, younger members will soon rise to take leadership. When agents learn a violent crime is being plotted, should they step in to prevent it and risk botching their undercover probe? [21] Other symbols include use of the number 14 or XIV, as the letter "N" is the 14th letter of the English alphabet. The FBI's Operation Black Widow resulted in arrests and indictments of 150 members of Nuestra Familia gang. You have a potential disaster waiting to happen," Cohen said. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! [21], Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate Nuestra Familia, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. And that price is going to be your freedom, said District Attorney Dean Flippo. 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. 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