But such sentiments are meaningless down on the farm. On March 19, the name of Luis Sandoval was called three times in the Walker County courthouse, but the defendant did not respond. He was pronounced dead at seven that evening, a victim of twenty stab wounds. Texas Chicano Brotherhood (TCB) Texas Mafia. And in March 1991, McDonalds prosecution force indicted yet another Ellis I guard. The Texas Syndicate (Spanish:Syndicato Tejano) is a mostly-Mexican criminal group founded in Folsom State Prison, California, in the 1970s. Garcia, 38, is a member of the Texas Syndicate gang with ties to the Rio Grande Valley. Garcia would later say that he told Sandoval shortly after the Arredondo murder, Man, youre in deep shit. Facebook . When asked on the witness stand if the hallway was ever undermanned, the reply of Nolan McCoolanother officer working the B-wing that afternoonwas emphatic: Constantly.. Like any good businessman, Garcia kept a close eye on the marketplace. At a given time, Sandoval would stand guard over hundreds of inmates. Employees come and go unfrisked, unobserved. Barrio Azteca gang members Fabian "Shamoo" Rodriguez and Juan "Porky" Manuel Viscaino-Amaro pleaded guility in U.S. federal court to racketeering, murder, and other charges related to the gang's drug and human trafficking. We know who you take orders from. Marshals ServiceCommunications CenterCall 1-800-336-0102, Gang Membership by County - SW Region The Department of Public Safety has released its 2018 Texas Gang Threat Assessment, and all 14 of the state's highest-threat gangs have a presence in Bexar County, the report showed. Its a society all its own. Inmates fashioned shanks out of road signs, door hinges, food trays, typewriter platen rods, and field equipment. Id say about eighty percent of the inmates knew he was dealing clamed one inmate who was close to the action. To defend themselves against harassment and assault by California prison gangs, they formed their own protection group. ), The Sandoval trial was a rare public washing of the Texas penal systems bloodstained linen. And Sandoval welcomed his company. Im on trial, sir, conceded the polite young man in the pin-striped suit who sat in the witness stand. On the unit level, the Texas Syndicate is controlled by a chairman who over sees the vice chairman, captain, lieutenant, ser geant of arms, and soldiers. A long, metal objecta homemade knife, or shankprotruded from his jugular. When asked about it, Sandoval testified that the report merely contained Schapers accusations, which Sandoval denied then and would deny now, under oath. To make identification difficult for prison officials, most gang members no longer wear tattoos. ChatGPT gathers . Intelligence & Counterterrorism Division . (Officials also say the Texas Syndicate is far more selective and does not, for example, recruit homosexuals.) Prisoners join gangs, thereby becoming strong, and prey upon the weak. Get these inmates in the chapel, he told them. The Texas Syndicate was downgraded in threat level to Tier 2, after years on the Tier 1 list, following law enforcement investigations that severely disrupted the gang, the DPS says. It was a pleasure to deal with an inmate man to man, for once. This past May, the bullet-riddled body of Mexican Mafia member Andres Sampyro was found in a San Antonio barrio. 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. Compared with Luis Sandovals quiet life in Alice, Ellis I must have seemed like an opium den. And were there in it. Look, man, I think Im being watched, Sandoval told Garcia the next day. More accurate investigations lower the number to about 4000, with some sources even going as low as 3800. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? 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. 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. His wife divorced him. Sandoval put his hand against the wound, looked up, and saw Crippin and McCool standing there, gaping. If you tell him, Put that knife down, hell look up at you and say, I aint through yet. These people are serious. Founded In: 1970s Leslie Zepeda died the day after Christmas. [1], The history of the group and documented acts of violence in other jurisdictions warrant their certification as a Security Threat Group. I didnt do it, Sandoval announced to me in a recent phone conversation. Until Judge Justices decree, TDCJs inmate population was essentially governed by brutal trusties known as building tenders, whose methodswhich included beating and sodomizing inmates into terrified submissionwent largely unchecked by prison officials. Well, so does the inmate. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Sandoval was one of the officers I wanted to be like, said one correctional officer whom Sandoval helped train. But they werent enough: A guard like Luis Sandoval would be assigned to a hallway filled with hundreds of inmates. With only an army surplus bag and a brand new journal in hand, she sets out to hitchhike from her home . After the trial, Sandovals attorney, Steve Fischer, contacted TDCJ officials and asked them to let bygones be bygones. "A Real Shot" Texas AG Sues To Stop $1.7 Trillion Bill Implementation On Constitutional "Quorum" Grounds; VIDEO: Ukrainian Troops On the battlefield Giving NAZI Salute; REVEALED: Nikki Haley Is One of Globalist World Economic Forum Founder Klaus Schwab's 'Young Global Leaders' Running Into Fire: The Legacy of Jeff Blackburn, The Apache, the Irish Catholic Priest, and a 40-Year-Old Miscarriage of Justice, An Unforgettable Texas Tale of Envy, Embezzlement, and Fruitcake, How the Texas Rangers Became One of the Most Powerful Forces in the State. 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. After its formation in 1986, both the Texas Syndicate and Texas Mexican Mafia refused to recognize the Aztecas and declared war on the gang. Beneath the cosmetic alterations, however, things at Ellis I are just as Sandoval left them. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. He just got involved with the wrong people.. On the way home Sandoval asked his cousin to drive the scenic route. None of them knew anything about Sandoval and drugs. Released or parole members who generate money for the gang must surrender a 10% tax ("the dime") of all proceeds toward the Texas Syndicate in prison. It took the jury 33 minutes to decide that Sandoval was not guilty. 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. White Knights (Texas) White Prison Gangs. 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. Garcia, of course, could snitch to the Ellis I authorities. That afternoon, Ellis I warden Jerry Peterson called Sandoval into his office to congratulate him on a fine job. Garcia, a four-time loser serving a life sentence for repeated theft and heroin offenses, was one of the friendlier inmates: 33 years old but actually grandfatherly in demeanora gentleman, you could almost sayquiet and unthreatening. texas syndicate hand signs. Throughout that specific decade, the state of California saw the birth of several criminal organizations. Current Anti-Gang Efforts and Initiatives >> Perhaps it was because Vicente was so quiet and servile or perhaps he had such a talent for lingering that the porters simply paid him no mind. 10. In 2000, reports indicated the existence of roughly 20000 members. But now that seemed the least of Luis Sandovals worries. [1], Development of the Texas Syndicate was initially motivated by self-protection against the historical "building tenders" in prison. 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. 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. In his first year on the job, Luis Sandoval found himself delivering drugs to a self-described drug runner on behalf of the states deadliest prison gang, the Texas Syndicate. Come on, Sandoval. I was in the dayroom. Everyone agreed that the building tender system was a cheap and crudely effective method of maintaining order. At certain times, more than five hundred of them might flood the B-wing hallway en route to the gym, the chapel, the woodshop, or the chow hall. It was also a dangerous practice in light of the fact that a narrow corridor intersected the west end of the B-wing and only an officer standing at that end could see what was going on in the corridor. 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. This international criminal organization, which began as an El Paso street gang, has organized and proliferated on both sides of the Mexican border to become one of the most dangerous prison gangs operating in both state and federal facilities. Porky Viscaino-Amaro, 41, is a Mexican citizen. 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. Barrio Azteca members also are involved in alien smuggling, arson, assault, auto theft, burglary, extortion, intimidation, kidnapping, robbery, and weapons violations. And the courier must possess a particular power: He must be able to walk through walls. The new boot suffered the usual abuse from veterans and inmates. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. 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.. Never let a member down; 7. The Texas Syndicate, more than La Eme or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners, such as the "Border . Even before the call, Luis Sandoval had been sweating bullets. The group eventually evolved an internal hierarchy and opened its doors to non-Hispanic members. In prison, he had come to learn, if you gave, you got. The Barrio Azteca gang might have been hurt by Operation Knock Down but it certainly has not been knocked out. To pay for his legal expenses, his mother sold the family home. The field for their activities, though fertile, was finite, thus making turf wars inevitable. When they got there they found Joe Arredondo lying on his back. Velasquez, No. A marginal amount of contraband and drug trafficking has also been registered. He would stand at the searchers desk like he was running the building, Sandoval said. Today, Sandoval says he mailed the letter and others like it with a kind heart but with bad judgment. And in an institution where judgment allowed some inmates to flaunt dangerous weapons while officials looked the other way, mailing the letter seemed like a minor transgression. Joe Arredondo was one of those inmates, an arrogant squirt barely over five feet tall who frequently provoked guards but never got in trouble for it. Yes, he had made the phone calls. Although once used mostly at Heavy Metal and Rock 'N' Roll concerts, the Satan sign is now seen regularly at Country Music concerts and Christian Rock concerts as well. Today, the Texas Syndicate is both a prison and a street gang. In this role, you will be required to transport the signs to the customer's location, prepare the sig. Virtually everyone saw it coming. When cocaine was cheap, he sold coke; when pure coke became scarce and heroin became abundant, Garcia seized the opportunity. In San Antonio, federal, state and local authorities have arrested twelve Texas Mexican Mafia (TMM) members and associates on federal drug charges in connection with a methamphetamine/heroin/cocaine trafficking operation in the San Antonio area, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge The money chiefly comes from drugs. The Texas Syndicate's activities include drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, protection, gambling, and contract murder. As to everything he had told his investigatorsnone of that was true either, he said. I could watch him deal with inmates and think, This guy knows something I dont know., One evening, while gazing out from his apartment balcony, Sandoval saw a car drive slowly by. That statistic does not come close to reflecting the actual number of TDCJ employees suspected of involvement in corrupt activities. The steaks would have come from the kitchen; the laundry basket that held them would have been wheeled past a guard. (After the trial, Sandoval became less talkative on the subject of drugs. Source: National Gang Assessment 2009. Current Location: Most of Texas, Other Zones in The United States; So wed just lay back, let him cool down. 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. Led by visionary comic artist Joe Madureira, we . He called his mother, who begged him to turn himself in. 2018) The Fifth Circuit affirmed defendants' convictions and sentences arising from their participation in racketeering activities that centrally involve violence, murder, and the distribution of drugs for the Texas Syndicate gang in Uvalde, Texas. Give me your shirt, he ordered an inmate and with it applied pressure to the wound. Bring on the Shiplap. Sandoval took a step toward the crashgate but was held back by the more experienced guard. The west end of the B-wing hallway was left unguarded after three-thirty every afternoon, when the guard normally stationed there was transferred to the chow hall. The inmates handed Sandoval a letter, wondering if the guard could mail it for them. One day Garcia told Sandoval to expect a call at home that evening. The attorney was advised that his client would never again wear gray in a state penal institution. Seemingly everyone in Ellis I would snitch or be snitched on. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. He did so and, he told me, was then given $50 by the inmates. The caller advised Sandoval not to show up for his March 18, 1991, trial, and then hung up without identifying himself. Some veteran gang members claim that the Barrio Azteca gang can trace its roots in El Paso back to the original 1940s El Paso Tip gang (ept). Thats all they dolook for our weaknesses.. But the first six months is hell. Sandoval was determined to tough it out. 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. Garcia himself was not a TS member. A court granted the ACLU of Illinois and Black Lives Matter Chicago permission to intervene in the consent decree negotiations. Somehow an inmate by the name of Vicente had gotten past the new boots boys. Reminded that our earlier on-the-record, on-tape conversation contradicted this, he said, I have my life to think about.I made my mistakes. Convicts made primitive ovens out of foil-lined cardboard boxes equipped with a light bulb, and cooked deer or rabbit killed by inmates working in the fields. As the organization continued growing, drug trafficking came to be one of their favorite activities and sources of income. on specific gang tattoos and use hand signs. As a former prison gang member, I'm ashamed to look in the mirror because my failures are staring back at me. Outside, the gang works as many others criminal organizations in the US. Youre telling us its a coincidence that you werent down at the end of the hallway? . Our prisons, far from turning out reformed citizens, have instead become incubators of a statewide crime wave. The 90s and The Cartels Some prisoners do so to affirm and convey gang membership, indicate their rank in that gang, or display their ability to endure pain. But no one suspected a thing. The 1,577 gang members currently housed in administrative segregation represent only a fraction of those inmates who actually do the gangs bidding. Federal, state and local police as well as other government officials have succumbed to the money involved in the cannabis cancer. After building tenders disappeared due to a court order, the Syndicate's activities turned to drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, protection, illegal gambling, and contract killing. So it may be a week or a month or a yearbut that hit is on.. The mule, they believed, had done the drugs himself. The Texas Syndicate, a prison gang that operates in and outside of penitentiaries, is considered by state law-enforcement officials to be among the most dangerous criminal organizations in. tj springer wife services@everythingwellnessdpc.com (470)-604-9800 ; how to cite a foreign constitution chicago Facebook. Why does an offender join an STG? Are you on trial or is TDC on trial?. Great comedians and humorists have a deep understanding of human complexity and emotions in a way that a computer application never can or will. You were in the hallway, Smithey said. Several weeks after the jurys verdict, he told me over the phone that he wished to recant everything he had said to me on tape about his involvement with drugs. Gangs still terrorize the prisons. The answer was always no said former Ellis I officer Nolan McCool, If the opportunity exists, theyre gonna make the hit. 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. texas syndicate hand signs. 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 corridor where Joe Arredondo was murdered is now permanently guarded. But local law enforcement experts have documented that the gang was founded in 1986 by gangsters Benito "Benny" Acosta, Alberto "Indio" Estrada, Benjamin "T-Top" Olivarez, Manuel "Tolon" Cardoza, Manuel "El Grande" Fernandez, Ral "Rabillo" Fierro, and Jos "Gitano" Ledesma. The two inmate snitches who testified against Sandoval understated their criminal history, contradicted each other, and came off looking like dirtbags who would say anything for the right price. It is seemingly a simple, humble favor asked of men in gray by men in white. Colors: Red, black, green; Green can be used with Red ; 5 point star or crown; Pitchfork pointed down; MOB ; UBN; 21 Brick Pyramid; Dawg paws; hand sign making "B"; "P" or "TP". The following day, Chaplain Alexander Taylor, who witnessed Sandovals efforts, wrote the CO III a letter of commendation. Hispanics who were not TS members formed their own gang, the Mexican Mafia, which today outnumbers the TS two to one but is not considered as well organized by prison officials. The gang remains a significant threat to the safety and security of the United States and Mexico and to law enforcement working in and out of custody on both sides of the border. After that first transaction, Sandoval went back for morea total of three, four, or five times, he told me, though he vividly described six transactions to an investigator hired by his family. I knew he didnt have nothing to do with it. The roles in the Arredondo hit were decided in either the chow hall or the chapel, where numbers were drawn from a cup. (This inmates name has been changed as a condition of his interview.) As the show progresses, we see the challenges that El Paso Detective Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) and Jurez Detective Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir) face in working together across cultural divides as well as in an environment of extensive police and government corruption. As the free world would have it, there are good inmates and bad inmates. Sandoval did not know any warden, ranking officer, or CO at Ellis I who did not have at least one snitch. Theyre gonna be looking at you, and all that stuff in the past is gonna come up. The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato Tejano was the first prison gang to heavily impact the prison system in Texas. Guards could still smell burning marijuana and still see inmates giggling to themselves. Texas Mexican Mafia comes in a distant second with 4,700 members, followed by the Texas Syndicate (3,400 members), Latin Kings (2,100 members) and MS-13 (800 members). Not one of them said that Sandoval was a bad officer; many, in fact, went out of their way to laud his abilities. In his first year on the job, Luis Sandoval found himself delivering drugs to a self-described drug runner on behalf of the state's deadliest prison gang, the Texas Syndicate. 1 was here. By the fall of 1986, several months after the gang lockdown policy had been instituted, Joe Arredondos cockiness began to catch up with him. Respect other members; 8. texas syndicate hand signs 1%; 1% ER; Bandidos MC; Bandidos MG, BFFB = Bandidos Forever Forever Bandidos; GFBD = God Forgives Bandidos Don't; BFFBGFBD, Houstone Houston, Texas, Broken Star Emblem, HTB, 713 , 281, PTB, "16" "20" "2",D-Town, 214, Dallas, Texas, Solid Star with Outline, Fort Worth, Texas, Hollow Star with Outline, Foros or Foritos, Funky Town, 817, Austin, Texas, ATX Blast, ATX Tango Blast, La Capirucha, Capitol Building, 3 D Star with ATX, San Antonio, Texas, San Antonio Spurs logo, 210, San Anto, Orejones, Valluco, Valle, Puro Valluco, 956, 100% Valluco, XXII, Palms trees shaped in "V" , West , West Tango, 806, "W" "T", Current Anti-Gang Efforts and Initiatives >>, Most WantedGang FugitivesU.S. Apparently the inmates at Ellis I had noticed this as well, for their sweet talk had gotten to him. Hey, boss, you got a light? Luis Sandoval pulled out his lighter and, as he had before, lit the cigarette held by Armando Garcia. The drugs are distributed by the gang on both sides of the border. texas syndicate hand signsjack paar cause of death. The guard made the call, apparently unaware that such messages, and the letters, might contain coded instructions from a prison drug-runner to a high-ranking member of the Texas Syndicate. 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. The Barrio Azteca gang derives most of its income from smuggling heroin, powdered cocaine, and marijuana from Mexico into the United States through the portal it controls between the cities of El Paso and Juarez. Twelve days later, Texas chief prison prosecutor Travis McDonald flew to L.A., took custody of Sandoval, and flew him back to Huntsville, where he was held without bond at the Walker County jail. Gainesville, FL, Disbands K-9 Unit Over Arrestee Losing Eye, IL Deputy Dies After Medical Event During Training, New TASER 10 Will Require Training for Seasoned Officers, Brinc Announces Next Generation of Lemur Drone, 11 Inspirational Quotes to Boost Police Morale in Trying Times, Half of Survey's Very Liberal Respondents Believe 1,000 or More Unarmed Black Men Killed by Police in 2019. Formed in the California prison system in the 1970s by incarcerated Tejanos, the Texas Syndicate sought protection against Californios. More than. The inmate staggered forward, blood gushing from his head and neck. But Ellis I officials, like so many other wardens in the post-Ruiz era, were playing a numbers game. 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. If he refused to do the favor, they could always snitch on him for lighting an inmates cigarettethough Sandoval didnt think either was that type of inmate. As the organization continued growing, drug trafficking came to be one of their favorite activities and sources of income. The B-wing, a loud and grossly overcrowded area, was considered the hellhole, in the words of Cade Crippin, the CO who worked the B-wing with Sandoval the afternoon of the murder. The impulse is to accommodate the inmate, since prisonsspiritual wastelands of concrete and metalcry out for random acts of human kindness. 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. If you last six months in there, youll make it. McALLEN, Texas (WOAI/KABB) They're one of the most notorious gangs in Texas - the Texas Syndicate and according to the DEA, they are a criminal organization that works with the Mexican cartels. He squinted through the smoke and the bars and the memories. After their verdict was announced on Wednesday, May 29, the jurors milled around outside the courtroom and vented their disgust with the states case to the media. With what was left of his final J.C. Penney paycheck, Sandoval and his cousin drove to Las Vegas, a place Sandoval had always yearned to visit. killing U.S. Consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, College Degrees Designed for Police Officers, Best Practices for Active Shooter Response and Police Training, The Tennessee Department of Public Safety Increased Visibility, Accountability and Accuracy with Inventory Management Software Designed Specifically for Law Enforcement, Field Report: Latino Gangs In Washington State, California's Budget Fix: Cut Gang and Drug Fighters. Prisons, crammed with thrill-seekers and outright junkies, provide the ultimate captive consumers. I looked up and as he was running by, he looked at melike he wanted to cry, you know? It criticized TDCJs good ol boy system, which Sandoval claimed has ruled with an iron fist since the penal system was first established. Hispanic guards, he said, were either coerced into quitting or found doing something wrong. Supervisors treated inmates like animals. He further wrote, I am not the only one who worked there that knows that TDCJ is linked to the gangs and their illegal activities.

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