Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force, including DPS Special Agents, located and arrested GONZALEZ at a local motel in Lubbock.GONZALEZ is a violent offender with a history of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault . Then he headed for the bathroom, a route that took him through a confined area guarded by CO II Nolan McCool. The single eye, or the eye of Providence originates in Egypt with the eye of Horus. Inmates know their surroundings, and they know that the surroundings are theirs. 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. Bring a gurney! called the lieutenant. The ink from U.S. district judge William Wayne Justices signature on his 1980 Ruiz v. Estelle decree had not yet dried before critics were predicting that the prison reforms specified in the judges order would leave a dangerous power vacuum. A Texas man sentenced to 25 years for aggravated assault of a family member was erroneously . In contrast, sixteen current or former Ellis I employees testified. Bring on the Shiplap. We know who you take orders from. During August and September of 1985, a long-standing rivalry between the Mexican Mafia and the TS exploded into a free-for-all throughout the prison system, leaving eleven inmates dead. And the rise of gang activity as evidenced by the rash of shootings we've seen in major metropolitan areas like Chicago and elsewhere is increasingly threatening the very safety and security of both law enforcement officers and the communities we serve, nationwide. Look, man, I think Im being watched, Sandoval told Garcia the next day. Texas Syndicate Tattoos: His father died. Though inmates werent allowed needles for tattooing, resident artists took to using the metal pieces of windup toys. 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. A tattoo can also be a sign or code to display their crimes on their skin for all . On the witness stand, Sandoval suggested that the caller was someone from TDCJ Internal Affairs; more likely, he was a Texas Syndicate member delivering the message that the TS would not be amused if Sandoval blew the whistle on their activities. The warden would later testify that Sandovals actions were somewhat heroic. But, Peterson added, the hero had seemed awfully calm in the midst of all the bloodshedperhaps too calm. Some choose designs that symbolize their time inside. A marginal amount of contraband and drug trafficking has also been registered. Not one of them said that Sandoval was a bad officer; many, in fact, went out of their way to laud his abilities. Garcia, 38, is a member of the Texas Syndicate gang with ties to the Rio Grande Valley. This booklet contains historical synopses of all STGs recognized by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), as well as recognized tattoos and other related indicators most often used by STGs and various street gang members. We are seeking a detail-oriented sign installer to transport and install a variety of signs. Never let a member down; 7. Allies: Texas Mafia, Los Zetas; The 2000s and Today resno Neon is a 90 year old electric sign company based in the Central San Joaquin Valley, California. Credit Solution Experts Incorporated offers quality business credit building services, which includes an easy step-by-step system designed for helping clients build their business credit effortlessly. At a given time, Sandoval would stand guard over hundreds of inmates. 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. Employees come and go unfrisked, unobserved. 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. Peaceable inmates who had lost faith in TDCJs ability to protect them now felt less inclined to carry shanks everywhere they went. They use any means necessary in an attempt to control their . Recruitment is conducted through social ties and involves a background check to screen for informants.[1]. texas syndicate hand signs. Everyone agreed that the building tender system was a cheap and crudely effective method of maintaining order. texas syndicate hand signsjack paar cause of death. 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. Current Anti-Gang Efforts and Initiatives >> Nothing during three weeks of by-the-book lectures at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice training academy had prepared him for the helplessness he felt as a lone correctional officer constantly surrounded by violent criminals. Back in February, Texas Syndicate member Ernesto Medrano and some 20 of his fellow gang members were in a Dallas federal courtroom receiving multi-year prison sentences for importing hundreds of . Other gangs also sprang up: the Hermanos de Pistoleros, the Self-Defense Family, the Texas Mafia, the Nuestra Carnales. Full electrics grew share, whilst plugin hybrids remained static. Bono Lady Gaga Ke$ha Aldous Huxley Nicki Minaj Michael Jackson Miley Cyrus Eminem No.5 Masonic Handshakes The Bloods and the Crips will likely adapt to their new environment just as other inmates do. [1], Development of the Texas Syndicate was initially motivated by self-protection against the historical "building tenders" in prison. 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. Federal agents arrested 28 people and subsequently charging 35 Barrio Azteca members and associates with racketeering and related charges in a sweep called Operation Knock Down on March 20, 2010. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. 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. Richard Valdemar retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department after spending most of his 33 years on the job combating gangs. But the defendants earnest tone suggested that this was itself an injusticethat the prison system had asked the impossible of prison guards and was now punishing Sandoval for the states shortcomings. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. We in the free world classify inmates according to motivation: those who do not wish to live a life of crime and those who know no other life; those who wish only to do their time and get out and those who function best in a kill-or-be-killed environment. (Officials also say the Texas Syndicate is far more selective and does not, for example, recruit homosexuals.) The gang murders that once took place inside prisons now take place on the streets. Overall auto volume was 126,237 . Full Name: Texas Syndicate; On the fourth day of the Sandoval trial, as if to punctuate the implicit warning in the testimony that gangs till thrived within the system, a member of the Mexican Mafia stabbed a Hermano de Pistolero to death at the Eastham Unit. 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. Either the guard didnt know what was going on, or he did. Just as he entered, Sandoval heard someone yell, Hes on the floor! Sandoval got up, ran into the hallway, and yelled fight twice. 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. Youll drain all the blood to his head. Three other officers arrived on the scene. 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. Sandoval lied: No, sir. Contradicting this claim, Internal Affairs investigator Dale Schaper took the stand and read his report of the night Sandoval was arrested. Leave them on the floor! said Sandoval. The mule, they believed, had done the drugs himself. When Vicente and his friend Armando Garciaalso a pleasant, nonconfrontational fellowbegan to ask Sandoval if he had a light, the guard refused at first, and finally decided, after repeated requests, what the hell. And Sandoval welcomed his company. The youth gangs havent caused trouble yet, but the realities of prison life suggest that this will surely change. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. The Texas Syndicate 2,082 views Jun 18, 2022 62 Dislike Share Save Gangsters Cops and Politicians 3.4K subscribers Gang Expert Gabe Morales discusses the California roots of the Texas. Extra guards to supervise the gathering had to come from some other post. Ellis I officials caught wind of the deal through a snitch. By now he was a CO III, an old boot, and he had trained many of the guards who now worked with him. General Info And in March 1991, McDonalds prosecution force indicted yet another Ellis I guard. 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 And perhaps he was vaguely aware that the request, if honored, would be only the first of manythat later he would be asked for cigarettes, chewing gum, packs of sunflower seeds, and more. Receipt of inmates on interstate compact and the current membership in groups with Hispanic and Latino supremacy ideology lend to the threat of an organizing TS within our facilities. His mother and stepfather lived in a middle-class neighborhood, but most of Sandovals friends lived in the barrios or in the projects of Kingsville, where Sandoval attended college for three years. google hiring committee rejection rate. I remember when he yelled fight. SMU's Pony Ears is just one of many Texas college football hand signs. Well, so does the inmate. In the tenements across the street from the Texas A&I University stadium lived a fifteen-year-old girl named Veronica, whom he married on June 22, 1985, after learning that TDCJ had accepted his application for employment as a correctional officer, or CO. The next day, a Sunday, the newlyweds threw their possessions into a suitcase and a grocery bag, and drove Sandovals Datsun to Conroe. Thats all they dolook for our weaknesses.. Sandoval felt more at home with fellow Hispanics than with the black inmates, who terrified him. 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. The Texas Syndicate, unlike the Mexican Mafia or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners. I looked up and as he was running by, he looked at melike he wanted to cry, you know? Tattoos The TM tattoo consists of the letters "TM" with one or all of the bottom tips of the letters shaped like devil's tails and/or arrowheads. 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. On Monday, at eight in the morning, Sandoval reported for duty at the Ellis I training academy in Huntsville. And were there in it. Sandoval described Ellis I warden Jerry Peterson as a good man but a figurehead. Inmates fashioned shanks out of road signs, door hinges, food trays, typewriter platen rods, and field equipment. In fact, his disciplinary record was almost spotless, and he enjoyed the privileged position of commissary clerk. Sandoval experienced the escalated violence in the summer of 1985 first hand as he initiated . By the time 21-year-old Luis Sandoval, a new boot at Huntsvilles Ellis I Unit in the summer of 1985, was approached by an inmate with an unlit cigarette, his ears were still ringing from a more desperate request he had heard during his first week on the job. 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. Are you on trial or is TDC on trial?. In a sense, you become a convict also.. The steaks would have come from the kitchen; the laundry basket that held them would have been wheeled past a guard. Guards could still smell burning marijuana and still see inmates giggling to themselves. The brutality of the murder, coupled with Sandovals complete inability to prevent it, made quite an impression on the young guard. Ten months after the murder, on October 23, 1987, Sandoval was again summoned to the wardens office. Sandoval did not know any warden, ranking officer, or CO at Ellis I who did not have at least one snitch. But the report was not a signed confession. But they werent enough: A guard like Luis Sandoval would be assigned to a hallway filled with hundreds of inmates. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. The moment Garcia asked Sandoval to bring marijuana into TDCJ, it did not take superhuman deductive powers for the guard to figure out the Hispanic inmates clientele. Some rules were just too silly to heed. But that was if they caught him. One day Garcia told Sandoval to expect a call at home that evening. He did so and, he told me, was then given $50 by the inmates. They have their money. The inmate staggered forward, blood gushing from his head and neck. But the system will not change. Throughout that specific decade, the state of California saw the birth of several criminal organizations. All Garcia and his friend Vicente lacked was a reliable drug mule who could be counted on to transport drugs into the prison. TDCJ intelligence files indicate that by the close of the eighties, the TS, the Mexican Mafia, and other prison gangs had developed active memberships in every major Texas city, as well as in several small towns. Recalling the letter deliveries and phone messages, Sandoval might have wondered just what he had gotten himself into and how deeply. Sandoval, in the meantime, worked at J.C. Penney in Plano. Push inevitably came to shove: In two separate gang confrontations, the Texans murdered one California inmate and seriously wounded another. 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. More accurate investigations lower the number to about 4000, with some sources even going as low as 3800. [1] Gang members smuggle multikilogram-quantities of powdered cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, and multiton-quantities of marijuana from Mexico into the U.S. for distribution inside and outside prison. 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. He called his mother, who begged him to turn himself in. He did not turn himself in. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping. It took the jury 33 minutes to decide that Sandoval was not guilty. Like any good businessman, Garcia kept a close eye on the marketplace. Plucky twenty-year-old, Susan Evenbright pledges to make her last summer in Texas a big one. Sandoval was then ordered to take off his uniform and replace it with inmate furlough clothes. Texas Department of Public Safety . Then he returned to Arredondo. Whos on trial here, Louie? demanded the intense and steely-eyed chief prosecutor, Travis McDonald, during his two-hour grilling of Luis Sandoval on May 24, 1991. A deal was struck between the gang and Garcia: Garcia would acquire the drugs, give half to the Texas Syndicate, and sell the other half himself. 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. He lit cigarettes, which led to other small favors, which led to bigger ones. Armed robberies, the sale of illicit substances such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana, and other crimes remain the main activities of this group. So it may be a week or a month or a yearbut that hit is on.. Two years after lighting his first cigarette, Sandoval was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly aiding a gang plot to kill an inmate. 10. [1], The history of the group and documented acts of violence in other jurisdictions warrant their certification as a Security Threat Group. 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. Sandovals apparent relationship with the gang did not escape the attention of the Ellis I population. 13 is traditionally known in the West as an unlucky number, but it is also part of several other gang names . No one, he seemed to be suggesting, was capable of telling the truth about Luis Sandovalnot even Sandoval himself. Homosexuality was prohibited, yet punks strutted about in their cells, wearing womens panties and makeup. Source: National Gang Assessment 2009. Unlike most state crises, there is absolutely no mystery to the takeover of our prisons by violent gangs. The release in Mexico of one of the men responsible for the murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena has renewed tension between the U.S. and Mexico over the case. This would put the Texas Syndicate in contact with several Mexican-based cartels. Gangs still terrorize the prisons. 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. 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. That afternoon in the interrogation room, Special Prison Prosecution Unit investigator Royce Smithey bore down on Sandoval. tj springer wife services@everythingwellnessdpc.com (470)-604-9800 ; how to cite a foreign constitution chicago Facebook. Fifty-two prisoners were murdered in a 21-month period that became known as the " war years ." Over 50 different gangs were represented in our study. 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. 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. To pay for his legal expenses, his mother sold the family home. There were many times when he said, I aint gonna do this shit anymore. And wed think, well, maybe were putting too much pressure on him. A week later another juror wrote Sandoval a four-page letter, expressing her chagrin that he had been put through all the agony. It is a sign of recognition between those that are in the occult. 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. It was their house, not his or the states. 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. 15 Title TEXAS SYNDICATE (ESE TE: TS) History The TS originated in the California prison system in the early 1970s, primarily to protect the small number of native Texan Mexican-American inmates from Texas Chicano Brotherhood (TCB) Texas Mafia. Receive the latest law enforcement in-depth information, news and products. Forty-one-year-old Texas Syndicate Lt. Hilario Nieto (aka "Shorty") is one of 8 individuals from San Antonio arrested this week on federal drug trafficking charges. In 2000, reports indicated the existence of roughly 20000 members. John Loomis. So dont try. Guards have been instructed to monitor gang activity but have shown an embarrassing inability to do so. These fugitives should be considered armed & dangerous. Post author: Post published: June 10, 2022; Post category: do coyotes eat crows; Post comments: . The 1,577 gang members currently housed in administrative segregation represent only a fraction of those inmates who actually do the gangs bidding. The inmate, a former gang operative now in protective custody, pulled a hand-rolled cigarette out of his white shirt and lit it. Sandoval was one of the officers I wanted to be like, said one correctional officer whom Sandoval helped train. A long, metal objecta homemade knife, or shankprotruded from his jugular. The thought worked away at his nerves. The two inmates snitched for Sandoval and herded him away from troublemakers, admonishing him, Boss, stay away from those guys.. I dont have any money to get any stamps, Garcia explained. Ive seen about five new boots take one step out of the control riot-gate and into the main hallway and turn around and say, See you later, said Sandoval. Produced by the Texas Joint Crime Information Center . And as in any society, some lead while others are led. He would stand at the searchers desk like he was running the building, Sandoval said. [2] The Syndicate is the oldest Texan prison gang. But according to one Ellis I officer, Inmates watch everything we do. By that time, things were quiet again at Ellis I. 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. Sandoval figured the odds were about even. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. The latter policy would be reversed in the 1980s. The drugs are distributed by the gang on both sides of the border. 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. As to everything he had told his investigatorsnone of that was true either, he said. Prison tattooing is the practice of "getting inked" while behind bars. Sandoval told me that he took the money, though he denied it in court. It is seemingly a simple, humble favor asked of men in gray by men in white. These would mostly come to life within the prison system; both as a physical response to assaults and as a way to achieve greater racial unity. If you last six months in there, youll make it. Why does an offender join an STG?