White Knights (Texas) White Prison Gangs. Exaggerated? The Barrio Azteca gang might have been hurt by Operation Knock Down but it certainly has not been knocked out. "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' By that time, things were quiet again at Ellis I. Still, gang members will frequently get tattoos to show their allegiance to their clique. Alcohol was forbidden, yet chock, or homemade wine, was made in a variety of ways in cells, the crudest method being by letting food wrapped in a plastic bag fester in a toilet tank. Throughout that specific decade, the state of California saw the birth of several criminal organizations. Most notably, the Los Zetas cartel has been known to count on members of the Texas Syndicate to plan and carry out murders, armed assaults and other violent wet-work. Today, the Texas Syndicate is both a prison and a street gang. ), The Sandoval trial was a rare public washing of the Texas penal systems bloodstained linen. As a former prison gang member, I'm ashamed to look in the mirror because my failures are staring back at me. on specific gang tattoos and use hand signs. Whoever killed him had to have come through the B-wing hallway and had to have been dripping with blood.
[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. Chow time meant that vast numbers of inmates would be crowded together in one room. The Barrio Azteca goal was to wrestle away control from the other gangs and gain dominance of the prison system. Each society sustains the other, but the economic cycle depends on a vital link, for the supply will not meet the demand unless the product reaches the consumer. The caller advised Sandoval not to show up for his March 18, 1991, trial, and then hung up without identifying himself. The guard said he wasnt tied to anyone. According to testimony, the man who drew the magic card, number one, was TS sergeant Carlos Rosas, a 31-year-old Dallas resident who was serving thirty years for aggravated robbery. But now that seemed the least of Luis Sandovals worries. Sandoval was one of the officers I wanted to be like, said one correctional officer whom Sandoval helped train. The five-foot-six, soft-voiced young man had spent most of his life in the South Texas town of Alice, where blacks were scarcely seen. The inmates handed Sandoval a letter, wondering if the guard could mail it for them. Never try to apprehend a fugitive yourself. Sandoval told me that he took the money, though he denied it in court. 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. If you last six months in there, youll make it. 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. And Sandoval welcomed his company. [6], TS has a paramilitary structure, headed by a president and vice president elected by the general membership. When asked about it, Sandoval testified that the report merely contained Schapers accusations, which Sandoval denied then and would deny now, under oath. This would put the Texas Syndicate in contact with several Mexican-based cartels. 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. That afternoon in the interrogation room, Special Prison Prosecution Unit investigator Royce Smithey bore down on Sandoval. What you usually see in any gun buyback program is elderly people turning in old junk guns from some closet or garage where they have sat gathering dust for many years. TV Review: Mixed View of FX's 'The Bridge'. But the sudden absence of gang wars did not mean that the gangs had gone away. At the close of the eighth hour, the shift changes, but the inmates remain. If you didnt treat your snitch right, he would scurry off to a more grateful listener and begin his new relationship by snitching on you. His refusal would prompt the reply, Then Ill tell your supervisor about when you lit my cigarette., At first the young guard spurned the inmates who pestered him, and threatened to write them up for disciplinary action. A tattoo can also be a sign or code to display their crimes on their skin for all . Abidance by these laws was enforced with violence, often resulting in beatings or executions of those who crossed the line. Paranoia overcame him. 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. Each gang had its own hierarchy and its own rules; each member was not permitted to leave his gang, even outside of prison, except by his own death. Great comedians and humorists have a deep understanding of human complexity and emotions in a way that a computer application never can or will. Garcia would later say that he told Sandoval shortly after the Arredondo murder, Man, youre in deep shit. The Texas Syndicate, unlike the Mexican Mafia or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners. Rosas would do the killing, while another TS member held Arredondo and two others stood by as lookouts. One Ellis I officer reported that in 1986, between one hundred and two hundred gallons of chock was discovered on a weekly basis within the unit. For several days, Sandoval read the Bible and considered his options. Some offenders join an STG in an effort to exert influence and take advantage of other offenders. 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. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Then hed have to do something for us. Sandoval weighed his choices. Did you know that 40% of all inmate escapes occur during transport? Don't quit your day job, ChatGPT! Apple Jack protected his mule, however, and though many knew of the officers extracurriculars, the hammer never fell on him. Dale Schaper dutifully typed up his report, and sent it through the proper channels. He squinted through the smoke and the bars and the memories. At about five-thirty that afternoon, Sandoval approached CO II Cade Crippin, who was inside a cellblock, observing the inmates. Take over the hallway for me, Sandoval said to his subordinate while handing him his keys. Gangs are a serious problem negatively impacting American culture. The court held that there was sufficient evidence to convict . Sandoval took the advice three years after Garcia gave it. Some of these funds are used to bribe police and public officials on both sides of the border. To get drugs out of the free world and into prison cells, there must be a courier. Thats all they dolook for our weaknesses.. They use any means necessary in an attempt to control their . It took the jury 33 minutes to decide that Sandoval was not guilty. The money chiefly comes from drugs. For about three months thereafter, while state officials sought a long-term solution, every prison unit experienced a total lockdown. [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. 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. In fact, his disciplinary record was almost spotless, and he enjoyed the privileged position of commissary clerk. One juror phoned Sandovals brother that afternoon and told him that in her view the case against Sandoval was racially motivated. 1 was here. If you work at any time for the TDCJ, said assistant prosecutor Burt Neal Tuck Tucker during the first day of testimony, you know how powerful the Texas Syndicate can be.. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. Crippin knelt and lifted the inmates legs. Garcia, 38, is a member of the Texas Syndicate gang with ties to the Rio Grande Valley. Theyre gonna be looking at you, and all that stuff in the past is gonna come up. Youre telling us you saw nothing? The Barrio Azteca gang members organize themselves using a paramilitary structure and apply English terms or their Spanish equivalent words for ranks such as captain, lieutenant, and sergeant. Leave them blank to get signed up. The steaks would have come from the kitchen; the laundry basket that held them would have been wheeled past a guard. 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. 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. If they dont make this hit, theyll become the person to get hit. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. [3] Syndicate members have been known to carry out contract killings for Los Zetas, the paramilitary wing of the Gulf Cartel. The violent wars between these and other power groups within the custody facilities made these two prison gangs the big bullies on the block. Gangs didnt worry about guards; they worried about each other. The packages, he admitted, most likely contained drugs. By current estimates, more than 2,000 members make up their ranks. 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. 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. 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. It was a blind spot, and unit officials hoped the inmates wouldnt notice. Diseo y fabricacin de reactores y equipo cientfico y de laboratorio 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. Recalling the letter deliveries and phone messages, Sandoval might have wondered just what he had gotten himself into and how deeply. Some prisoners do so to affirm and convey gang membership, indicate their rank in that gang, or display their ability to endure pain. Source: National Gang Assessment 2009. Sandovals apparent relationship with the gang did not escape the attention of the Ellis I population. It was their house, not his or the states. Led by visionary comic artist Joe Madureira, we . To pay for his legal expenses, his mother sold the family home. 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). We know who you take orders from. As the organization continued growing, drug trafficking came to be one of their favorite activities and sources of income. They ally with the Texas Mafia; Dirty White Boys, and Border Brothers. 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. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Barrio Azteca is currently at the top of the FBI and DEA threat list. The next day, a Sunday, the newlyweds threw their possessions into a suitcase and a grocery bag, and drove Sandovals Datsun to Conroe. Are you on trial or is TDC on trial?. Homosexuality was prohibited, yet punks strutted about in their cells, wearing womens panties and makeup. When they got there they found Joe Arredondo lying on his back. 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. His wife divorced him. This past May, the bullet-riddled body of Mexican Mafia member Andres Sampyro was found in a San Antonio barrio. Either the guard didnt know what was going on, or he did. 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. Push inevitably came to shove: In two separate gang confrontations, the Texans murdered one California inmate and seriously wounded another. The thought worked away at his nerves. He was a drug dealer, with connections dating back to his days peddling heroin in El Paso. Gangs still terrorize the prisons. The war ended with a treaty in 1997. Sandoval caught one inmate with a homemade oven and a laundry basket filled with about fifty prime-cut steaks. The main objective of the Texas Syndicate was that of offering protection to other native Texan inmates. Sandoval felt more at home with fellow Hispanics than with the black inmates, who terrified him. Prisoners join gangs, thereby becoming strong, and prey upon the weak. 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. It was a pleasure to deal with an inmate man to man, for once. The two inmates snitched for Sandoval and herded him away from troublemakers, admonishing him, Boss, stay away from those guys.. 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. 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. Sandoval, in the meantime, worked at J.C. Penney in Plano. The 1985 lockdown put a damper on the atmosphere but not on the flow of drugs. Texas Syndicate Tattoos: As to everything he had told his investigatorsnone of that was true either, he said. On Monday, at eight in the morning, Sandoval reported for duty at the Ellis I training academy in Huntsville. 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. None of them knew anything about Sandoval and drugs. They blew the paycheck on the slot machines; they had a wonderful time. The other factor that has led guards to traffic in drugs is the peculiar morality of Ellis I, where rules are never universally applied and the use of drugs is so widespread that officials have to knowand acceptthat prison guards are involved in the supply chain. Bring on the Shiplap. Throughout most of its early life, the Texas Syndicate was primarily a prison gang, with little to no contact with the outside world. 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 . 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. John Loomis. It seemed that everywhere Sandoval went, there was Vicente, pushing his broom across the floor, sometimes waving or offering a greeting to the new boot, but never badgering him. school of professional studies acceptance rate duplexes for rent in lebanon, mo duplexes for rent in lebanon, mo On Sandovals shift alone, at least four or five guards had been busted for bringing drugs into prison, but there were others who hadnt been busted and probably never would be. The roles in the Arredondo hit were decided in either the chow hall or the chapel, where numbers were drawn from a cup. I cant honestly tell you why he did it, said the inmate of Sandoval. Most convicts who finish serving their sentence leave the gang life behind, with only a fraction continuing as street thugs. 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. 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. Inside the walls of each prison is drugs, prostitution, gambling, extortion, and grand theft, but no investigation into any of these things has ever been made. The letter did not say what such an investigation would say about Luis Sandoval. 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. Somehow an inmate by the name of Vicente had gotten past the new boots boys. 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. [1] The Texas Syndicate has approximately 1,300 members, the majority of whom are Mexican American males aged between 20 and 40. did hephaestus divorce aphrodite Order Supplement. At the Ferguson Unit, for example, guards wore special caps sporting a patch designed by an inmate. Bring a gurney! called the lieutenant. They often use the letters "BA" or numbers "21" as their identifying symbols and tattoos. The inmate staggered forward, blood gushing from his head and neck. Sandoval described Ellis I warden Jerry Peterson as a good man but a figurehead. Both in cities and behind bars, members of the Texas Syndicate began using hand-signs and gang markings to show their allegiance to the group. 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. Some speculated that the car was shot up in retaliation against the male husbands of the employees, because one of them worked in a custody facility in El Paso where the Azteca gang members were incarcerated. Gang members have a direct working relationship with associates and/or members of the Gulf Cartel.