And in March 1991, McDonalds prosecution force indicted yet another Ellis I guard. It was a pleasure to deal with an inmate man to man, for once. McCool opened the picket gate to allow Sandoval into the rest room. 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. Then hed say, Damn, I wish I had twenty dollars to go buy a couple of beers. And Id say, Just wait here, Ill be back. And Id collect fifty dollars for him. The 1,577 gang members currently housed in administrative segregation represent only a fraction of those inmates who actually do the gangs bidding. Sandoval came to enjoy these moments. Texas Syndicate Members In San Antonio Indicted On Racketeering Charges Charges allege responsibility for four murders, three attempted murders and drug distribution . Ranking structure : Paramilitary/Buisness Territory : Houston . Juan Carlos Castilleja, age 29 of New Braunfels, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine; Roman Gabriel Luna, age 34 of Austin, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine/one kilogram of heroin; Brandon Carrasco, age 21 of Kenedy, TX, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; David Cantu, age 46 of Gonzales, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; John Vera, age 26 of Gonzales, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Josh Vera, age 26 of Gonzales, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Lisa Anzaldua, age 31 of Luling, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Noemi Medina, age 25 of Seguin, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Paul Villarreal, age 45 of Luling, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; Michael Armstead, age 47 of San Marcos, less than 50 grams of methamphetamine; Steven Klasing, age 37 of Austin, less than 50 grams of methamphetamine/less than 100 grams of heroin; Rafael Salas, age 38 of San Antonio, one kilogram or more of heroin; and. Just as he entered, Sandoval heard someone yell, Hes on the floor! Somehow an inmate by the name of Vicente had gotten past the new boots boys. I cant honestly tell you why he did it, said the inmate of Sandoval. (Today, Sandoval says that statement was coerced.) Most gangs will just have their way with female members (referred to as s*xed-in) who want to join. Upon graduating from Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014, Joshua joined the Express-News in 2014 as a breaking news reporter. [2] As a street gang, heavy activity has been reported in Austin, Corpus Christi, the Rio Grande Valley and the Dallas Fort Worth area in Texas. RELATED:21 alleged members of drug cartel-affiliated Barrio Azteca gang arrested in West Texas. Inmates fashioned shanks out of road signs, door hinges, food trays, typewriter platen rods, and field equipment. When cocaine was cheap, he sold coke; when pure coke became scarce and heroin became abundant, Garcia seized the opportunity. Hey, Boss, you got a light? Every newly hired prison guard, or new boot, hears the question. Sandoval put his hand against the wound, looked up, and saw Crippin and McCool standing there, gaping. The Texas Syndicate originated in the early 1970s in the California prison system as a response to other prison gangs that were preying on native Texan inmates. The assailant was nowhere in sight. ISIS calls euphemistically calls this process "marriage"and in many cases, the thought of joining the group is less horrifying for a victim than having to explain to family members what happened. But the evidence gathered by Justice clearly added up to a violation of the Eight Amendments protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Then, the new recruit is expected to participate in the kill. 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. I looked up and as he was running by, he looked at melike he wanted to cry, you know? [4] [5] Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Criminal activity 2 Structure This group is one of the deadliest and most disgusting on Earth and employ many methods when it comes to spreading terror. 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. TS membership is comprised predominantly of Texas-born Mexican-American males and operates under a formal paramilitary organizational structure with a constitution and strict established rules. It was a blind spot, and unit officials hoped the inmates wouldnt notice. Everyone wanted informationon the inmates, on their superiors, on their peers. If the Texas Syndicate had told him there was a murder happening, he wouldnt have gone for it. A certain order prevailed, which stilled the critics and deflected the interest of the media. The impulse is to accommodate the inmate, since prisonsspiritual wastelands of concrete and metalcry out for random acts of human kindness. Beneath the cosmetic alterations, however, things at Ellis I are just as Sandoval left them. So it may be a week or a month or a yearbut that hit is on.. Many recruits show up voluntarily, but the group does practice kidnapping and forced recruitment. The Farmer.For this one farmer the worries are over, lie down and rest your head, Your time has been and struggles enough, put the tractor in the shed. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The experiences of being involved in Prison Gangs. Sandoval marveled at the river of red the inmate had left behind. One juror phoned Sandovals brother that afternoon and told him that in her view the case against Sandoval was racially motivated. Although, they do have alliances with some Hispanic gangs. His neck had been slashed; his head was all but severed. Sandoval figured the odds were about even. 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. [3] While the gangs maintains its headquarters in California, there are around 1,000 members in prisons and jails throughout Texas, with many others operating on the outside. Initially formed in El Paso jails in 1986, the Barrio Azteca gang expanded to a transnational criminal organization, allying itself with the Juarez Cartel (pictured). Take over the hallway for me, Sandoval said to his subordinate while handing him his keys. When one thinks of a motorcycle gang, these are the guys who come to mind. house for rent waldport oregon; is thanos a villain or anti hero 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. There are members in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and of course, all across Asia. Blood was gushing out of a hole in his neck; he was unconscious but gasping wildly. There are examples of people dying or being seriously injured during initiation stunts gone wrong. Ellis I officials caught wind of the deal through a snitch. You better get the hell out of here, Sandoval.. They didnt believe Sandoval. The steaks would have come from the kitchen; the laundry basket that held them would have been wheeled past a guard. 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. In a sense, you become a convict also.. (After the trial, Sandoval became less talkative on the subject of drugs. A member who violates the rules and loses favor becomes a muleta, a term which is used to mean a problem. Such a violation may result in the TS bringing its own official gang-based charges against the member who is being accused of violating the rules. 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. He was a drug dealer, with connections dating back to his days peddling heroin in El Paso. After being released from California prisons these inmates returned to Texas, often returning to violence and re-entering the prison system. 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. The Texas Syndicate (Spanish: Sindicato Tejano) is a mostly Texas -based street and prison gang consisting of predominantly Mexican American membership. The defendants, allegedly, conspired to distribute methamphetamine/heroin in Austin, San Marcos, Luling, Gonzales, New Braunfels, Hutto, Kenedy, Seguin, Bastrop and Tuscaloosa, AL, since January 2018. by . 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. texas syndicate initiation. No member is permitted to break away from the group. Barrio Azteca members are suspected of carrying out the March 2010 assassination of a U.S. Consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another U.S. Consulate employee. Now it was May 1991, and Sandoval was behind bars, his fate in the hands of a Huntsville jury. Members of the Texas Syndicate regularly hold meetings (sometimes referred to as barbeques or juntas) where members discuss and vote on important decisions. He told her that he feared the Texas prison authorities, who by now had surely discovered that the murder of Joe Arredondo was, if anything, a result of prison mismanagement. West Texas Syndicate Energy. The United Blood Nation, who still operate to this day in New York, was a gang started back in the early 1990's to protect members from Puerto Rican and Hispanic gangs, such as the Latin Kings and Netas. 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 . (Fong 41) This requirement, which exists in the case of the Texas Syndicate and Mexican Mafia for example, serves as a means of sponsorship, so therefore anyone interested in joining the gang, their trustworthiness can be verified if a current gang member is familiar with them. Yes, we know that there is some discrepancy listing a major terrorist organization along with prison gangs, but recruiting methods and reliance on crime for income make terror organizations like ISIS similar enough to gangs to list them here. Sandoval described Ellis I warden Jerry Peterson as a good man but a figurehead. According to a US Justice Department press release: Texas Syndicate, a criminal organization whose members and associates engage in acts of violence, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion and narcotics distribution. The new boots new habit, like everything else, was duly noted by the inmates. What sustains the gangs is money, which inmates use to bribe prison employees. The money chiefly comes from drugs. 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. 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. Sandoval did not know any warden, ranking officer, or CO at Ellis I who did not have at least one snitch. Prison units are individually controlled by a local chairman and vice chairman. We know who you take orders from. It took more than three years for the Arredondo murder case to come to trial, during which time a number of things happened to Sandoval. The threat being that they will show it to that person's family members, destroying them in the eyes of those they love. Scroll through the slideshow for 10 facts you need to know about the Texas-Mexico border gang. I remember when he yelled fight. To get drugs out of the free world and into prison cells, there must be a courier. Even after Arredondos murder, when the Special Prison Prosecution Unit began to gather incriminating evidence against Sandoval, Peterson showed little interest in the details. Throughout the Sandoval trial, guards on the witness stand were asked if they had ever stopped a gang member from murdering an inmate. This time, however, four Internal Affairs officers greeted him inside by reading him his rights and charging him with murder. They are affiliated with local prison gangs and often stock their ranks with young children, some in their early teens (not an uncommon practice for gangs in general). Murder wasnt his thing. Syndicate Initiation: Bradbury Fields (Everfall) Syndicate Initiation: Dayspring Mills (First Light) Syndicate Initiation: Abadier's Anger (Monarch's Bluffs) Syndicate Initiations occur when the Syndicate are chosen as a player's faction . Today supervisors advise guards: We cannot stop a hit. A federal grand jury indictment, returned in Austin and unsealed yesterday, charges those arrested with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. When a new member is ready to be "patched in," they are instructed to go buy a new pair of jeans and a denim jacket. He was whisked off to the Walker County jail. Yell fight, he said, but the two officers seemed paralyzed. Sources:NY Post, Free Republic, Vice, LA Times, PBS, VOA News, Daily Caller, Boston.com, International Business Times. In some of these sects, failure to keep this nasty concoction down is punishable by death. 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. Between full members and associates both within and outside of the prison system, the group has an estimated membership of around 10,000, and as the name implies, it is a white gang. Sandoval is one of more than sixty TDCJ guards who have been indicted by McDonalds Special Prison Prosecution Unit over the past six years for felony offenses. The quality of cocaine is frequently discussed in terms of how pretty or how good the girls are. Payments for drugs are often called receipts and cheese.. Upon conviction of the drug trafficking charge: Castilleja, Luna, Salazar, Salas and Alvarez face between ten years and life in federal prison; Jimenez-Jaimes, Carrasco, Cantu, Accord, John Vera, Josh Vera, Anzaldua, Medina, Villarreal and May face between five and 40 years in federal prison; Armstead and Klasing face up to 20 years in federal prison based on their involvement, drug type and drug amount involved. More often than not, a good time is experienced by all members, whether a veteran of the group or a newcomer, that sometimes ends up with a hangover and some funny memories. The field for their activities, though fertile, was finite, thus making turf wars inevitable. The motorcycle gang has roots going back to the 1960s, but only debuted on the DPS's Texas Gang Threat Assessment in 2015 after a deadly clash with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club in Waco on May 17 that left nine people dead. Tejanos were being preyed upon by California prison gangs in some of the most notorious California . 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. A long, metal objecta homemade knife, or shankprotruded from his jugular. Mungiki is a religious/ethnic sect in Kenya. Violent retribution is an important activity of the enterprise. Recalling the letter deliveries and phone messages, Sandoval might have wondered just what he had gotten himself into and how deeply. News on all your favorite celebs, reality TV, and movies. They have their prostitution, their gambling, their extortion. Looking toward the chapel, he could see Crippin ahead of him, heading for the hidden narrow corridor at the west end of the B-wing. [3] Syndicate members have been known to carry out contract killings for Los Zetas, the paramilitary wing of the Gulf Cartel. Its a society all its own. For several days, Sandoval read the Bible and considered his options. The Junky Funky Kids, who operate in areas in and around the Cape Flats part of Cape Town, South Africa, are just one of several dangerous gangs that operate in those areas. Prisoners join gangs, thereby becoming strong, and prey upon the weak. hinsdale golf club membership cost; hoover smartwash brushes not spinning; advantages of plum pudding model; it's a hard life if you don't weaken meaning But he also acknowledged that he had made mistakes; and to me, though not to the jury, he confessed that one of those mistakes was bringing drugs into Ellis I. Its a society, Luis Sandoval told me of the world he inhabited five days a week, eight hours a day. [2], Texas Syndicate members abide by a constitution requiring members to:[1], Additionally, gang leadership is determined by democratic elections, requiring a unanimous decision. texas syndicate initiation. He continued to walk, step after tortured step, a full fifty yards, before collapsing, dead, in the doorway of the infirmary. 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. ), 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. Sandoval picked up the marijuana and smuggled it into Ellis Ifrightened every step of the way, he told me, that someone might notice the smell of marijuana and search him. 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. Many of the gang leaders who had been doing time are now in the free world, spreading the gang network across the state, beyond prison walls. Unlike most state crises, there is absolutely no mystery to the takeover of our prisons by violent gangs. On the way home Sandoval asked his cousin to drive the scenic route. 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. Two years after lighting his first cigarette, Sandoval was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly aiding a gang plot to kill an inmate. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. I was a damn good officer, he told both me and them. Youre telling us you saw nothing? The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato Tejano was the first prison gang to heavily impact the prison system in Texas. This coded language is often hidden in an otherwise meaningless letter or telephone call. He had a one-week prison furlough coming up; the gang didnt want to spook him, fearing that he might not return to Ellis I. When he sent the letter off to his mother, he knew it wouldnt be long before law enforcement officials discovered his whereabouts. 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. When they got there they found Joe Arredondo lying on his back. Sandoval did not tell his mother why he was such a vulnerable candidate. In return, the snitch had an oversized cell to himself, plus a hall pass that gave him the run of the unit. But I was a good officer. Thus, the former good officer now wished to disavow everything he had told me earlier. West Texas Syndicate has always embraced the spirit of a hardworking, relentless underdog. After the big lockdown, metal detectors were installed in every prison unit to discourage the carrying of shanks. Some of the states most violent criminals were housed there. However, in the world of criminal gangs, where there is concern for nothing more than loyalty, initiation rites take a different and terrifying form. Now Turner could be seen pushing trash cans down the hall, twirling his knife in the air; nobody took his knife away. In 1978, in California, making the Texas Syndicate the oldest prison gang in Texas' history. Other chapters of the gang make this cocktail but use the blood of other members and recruits, along with wine and ashes to make it. These Texas offenders banded together for protection purposes and became known as one of the most feared prison gangs within the California prison system. Members consider it to be an offense against the organization for a nonmember to have a TS tattoo or assert membership in the Texas Syndicate prior to becoming a full member. If you are switching factions, you will need to leave your company in order to change to Syndicate. 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. And theres always somebody, the ex-drug runner told me, wholl do something for you.. (LogOut/ At Ellis I, Sandoval had never seen so many rules enforced so haphazardly. Gang initiation is determined either by a formula system, whereas if the member completes all the requirements (which sometimes include killing another person) and the other basic requirements (such as race, ethnicity etc), they are automatically initiated. It generally signifies new membership into a club or group, and while some examples of initiation can be fun and bring people together, others are downright traumatizing. A host of documents relating to the trial, as well as interviews with numerous sources involved in the case, have provided chilling details of how Texas prisons really work today. In total, the gang had an estimated 5,000 members in Juarez and 3,000 in the United States in 2013, Insight Crime reported. The only witnesses who said that Sandoval had anything to do with the murder of inmate Joe Arredondo were two convicted felons: Carlos Rosas, a Texas Syndicate member who confessed to actually stabbing Arredondo but was offered a favorable deal in exchange for his testimony; and Ruben Ortiz, a convicted murderer and Texas Syndicate sex slave who was paroled after he agreed to testify. 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. The mule, they believed, had done the drugs himself. Armando Garcia had seen this coming. (Fong 41) The fact that the gangs would still find ways to take advantage of people not qualified for their gang, is enough evidence that the gangs in the prison system, find their ways in maintaining power over their victims. . The thought worked away at his nerves. Chris is a sports enthusiast with a fondness for politics, craft beer, horror movies and travel. Ten months after the murder, on October 23, 1987, Sandoval was again summoned to the wardens office. I want to see the mountains, he said. 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 attorney was advised that his client would never again wear gray in a state penal institution. The corridor where Joe Arredondo was murdered is now permanently guarded. 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. At the Ferguson Unit, for example, guards wore special caps sporting a patch designed by an inmate. Bring a gurney! called the lieutenant. Neither possibility seemed likely, given what Sandoval had learned about TDCJ in his first few months on the job. Even before the call, Luis Sandoval had been sweating bullets. 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. There is little supervision, no governing oversight other than the hierarchy, and quite literally the only purpose of these is to test would-be members to see if they have what it takes to serve the purpose of the group. Back in late 2014, police estimated their numbers to be over 500, but there is no telling how much that number has grown by now. 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). Seemingly everyone in Ellis I would snitch or be snitched on. The Texas Syndicate, more than La Eme or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners, such as the "Border . However, DPS downgraded the threat posed by the Barrio Azteca gang in 2015 after considering it among the state's most violent Texas-based gangs since 2010. 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. 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. Carnales make sure that the rules are known. An estimated 70,000 in their ranks, they are as violent as they are numerous, and what was once a Los Angeles-based operation, now has interests across the United States and in Canada. Within the prison system, there is a widely agreed upon initiation requirement, and it is that a new recruit must kill someone. The drug trade was lucrative, and Sandoval always seemed to be hurting for money. 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