Apparently the inmates at Ellis I had noticed this as well, for their sweet talk had gotten to him. 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. Six weeks later, in December 1987, Luis Sandoval was terminated from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. 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. The prosecutors of Luis Sandoval not only conceded this but went out of their way to make it part of their case. In conspiracy theory lore, it represents allegiance to Satan and the Illuminati. In a press release, USPS says it has awarded contracts to Ford to purchase 9,250 left-hand-drive regular production E-Transit electric vans as well as 14,000 EV charging stations to support their . The drug trade was lucrative, and Sandoval always seemed to be hurting for money. In your house you can walk around in the dark and not bang your shins because you know every square inch, said a former Ellis I officer. Due to the fact that most recruiting happens in prison, law enforcement agencies always struggled with estimating the effective number of people belonging to the gang. 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. So dont try. Guards have been instructed to monitor gang activity but have shown an embarrassing inability to do so. If you last six months in there, youll make it. texas syndicate hand signsfeathered friend questions and answers. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [1] The Texas Syndicate has approximately 1,300 members, the majority of whom are Mexican American males aged between 20 and 40. The roles in the Arredondo hit were decided in either the chow hall or the chapel, where numbers were drawn from a cup. 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. Post author: Post published: June 10, 2022; Post category: do coyotes eat crows; Post comments: . At that time, the Texas jail and prison systems were under the control of the Texas Mexican Mafia, or Mexikanemi, and the older Texas Syndicate (TS) prison gangs. Federal, state and local police as well as other government officials have succumbed to the money involved in the cannabis cancer. Prisoners join gangs, thereby becoming strong, and prey upon the weak. In prison, he had come to learn, if you gave, you got. They often use the letters "BA" or numbers "21" as their identifying symbols and tattoos. 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. Or if they cared to enforce the rule. They didnt believe Sandoval. The Texas Syndicate, more than La Eme or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners, The latter policy would be reversed in the 1980s. 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. Later, Vicente asked the guard if a free world individual could mail Sandoval two money orders, which Sandoval would cash and then bring the $250 to the inmates. In fact, his disciplinary record was almost spotless, and he enjoyed the privileged position of commissary clerk. 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. And Sandoval welcomed his company. Texas prisons were mostly gang-free until bloody battles broke out in 1984-85 between the Mexican Mafia and Texas Syndicate as well as the Aryan Brotherhood and Mandingo Warriors. But, he insisted, that didnt make him a murderer. 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. Sandoval figured the odds were about even. Texas sheriff's office to investigate why man given long prison term was released from jail by mistake. 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. The attorney was advised that his client would never again wear gray in a state penal institution. 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. Seemingly everyone in Ellis I would snitch or be snitched on. Throughout most of its early life, the Texas Syndicate was primarily a prison gang, with little to no contact with the outside world. I didnt do it, Sandoval announced to me in a recent phone conversation. The inmates handed Sandoval a letter, wondering if the guard could mail it for them. Garcia, of course, could snitch to the Ellis I authorities. The majority of these, though, were only marginally involved with the gang activities. 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. Unlike most state crises, there is absolutely no mystery to the takeover of our prisons by violent gangs. He was muling, said McDonald. Sandoval, in the meantime, worked at J.C. Penney in Plano. 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. These include 13, Black Hand of Death, The M, and La Eme, which is Spanish for "the M". Although numerically and financially inferior and facing multiple powerful advisories, the Barrio Azteca gang managed to murder many significant members of their enemies in several Texas prison facilities. Ten Ellis I guards who worked with Sandoval testified that they had no knowledge that Sandoval was involved in drug transactions with prison gangs. This would put the Texas Syndicate in contact with several Mexican-based cartels. Respect other members; 8. And all you see is white shirts. 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. Yell fight, he said, but the two officers seemed paralyzed. former wnct news anchors Twitter. 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. 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. I looked up and as he was running by, he looked at melike he wanted to cry, you know? Then he returned to Arredondo. Garcia himself was not a TS member. At the Ferguson Unit, for example, guards wore special caps sporting a patch designed by an inmate. 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. 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. To the newer guards, Sandovals stature among the inmates was something to behold. Everybody knew about this scum. Yet Apple Jack went unpunished: He tithed a share of his profits to the Texas Syndicate and gave the supervisors something to crow about by setting up a guard now and then. 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. When they got there they found Joe Arredondo lying on his back. Overall auto volume was 126,237 . He had lied to his own investigator, just as inmates and Internal Affairs had lied to the jurors. 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. Some choose designs that symbolize their time inside. The murder would take place in a corridor abutting the B-wing: the maximum-security area where Luis Sandoval often worked. 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. [1], The history of the group and documented acts of violence in other jurisdictions warrant their certification as a Security Threat Group. 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. In return, the snitch had an oversized cell to himself, plus a hall pass that gave him the run of the unit. After you sit there for twenty-four hours a day with nothing else to do, you discover all sorts of good hiding places. Added a current officer, The only time that we can find drugs is if an inmate snitches and tells us.. And theres always somebody, the ex-drug runner told me, wholl do something for you.. On March 19, the name of Luis Sandoval was called three times in the Walker County courthouse, but the defendant did not respond. By the end of the eighties, the public fretting over prison gangs had dissipated. But the first six months is hell. Sandoval was determined to tough it out. Murder wasnt his thing. texas syndicate hand signs. Just as he entered, Sandoval heard someone yell, Hes on the floor! The latter policy would be reversed in the 1980s. But Ellis I officials, like so many other wardens in the post-Ruiz era, were playing a numbers game. The money chiefly comes from drugs. 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 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). Even before the call, Luis Sandoval had been sweating bullets. texas syndicate hand signs This practice violated the Ruiz stipulation that an officer must be present at all times at any entrance or exit of the main building. [6], TS has a paramilitary structure, headed by a president and vice president elected by the general membership. Keep all gang information within the group. Sandoval took the advice three years after Garcia gave it. Diseo y fabricacin de reactores y equipo cientfico y de laboratorio Over time, Sandoval got sucked into the undertow of prison life. The decision was reached: Arredondo would be taken down. The court transportation system is the first weak point. The caller, known as El Carpintero, was a convicted child molester from El Paso who nonetheless had managed to obtain a job, under an assumed name, as an x-ray technician at Ellis I. El Carpintero instructed Sandoval to drive to a location in Huntsville where a sack containing marijuana awaited. It is a sign of recognition between those that are in the occult. They often victimized members of other smaller gangs and individuals, alienating many Mexican national and Mexican-American inmates. Leslie Zepeda died the day after Christmas. 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. Ellis I officials caught wind of the deal through a snitch. 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. But other factors have caused guards to agree to be drug mules. More accurate investigations lower the number to about 4000, with some sources even going as low as 3800. The youth gangs havent caused trouble yet, but the realities of prison life suggest that this will surely change. Everyone wanted informationon the inmates, on their superiors, on their peers. Word spread that the Texans were a force to contend with. They grew quickly by recruiting violent individuals, especially from the El Paso-Juarez area. The new boots new habit, like everything else, was duly noted by the inmates. Get these inmates in the chapel, he told them. Every inmate was confined to his cell, stripped of recreation and visitation privileges, and fed sandwiches that guards tossed through the bars of the cell. 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. Tango Blast. 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. As to everything he had told his investigatorsnone of that was true either, he said. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Don't quit your day job, ChatGPT! To get drugs out of the free world and into prison cells, there must be a courier. In Del Rio, a federal judge sentenced 29 Uvalde/Hondo-area Texas Syndicate (TS) members over the past two weeks to federal prison, including four defendants to life imprisonment, for various racketeering and drug trafficking offenses committed in Uvalde, San Antonio and the surrounding areas announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs . I had the burden lifted from my shoulders., You have these inmates, said an Ellis I correctional officer, where you write em up [for rule infractions] and nothing happens. 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. Porky Viscaino-Amaro, 41, is a Mexican citizen. BUSTED: 22 alleged gang members accused of running Houston brothels filled with undocumented immigrant s. The single eye, or the eye of Providence originates in Egypt with the eye of Horus. When Arredondo got killed, Sandoval was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. 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. Garcia, 38, is a member of the Texas Syndicate gang with ties to the Rio Grande Valley. texas syndicate hand signs. So it may be a week or a month or a yearbut that hit is on.. 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. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? 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. Members of La eMe and exponents of white supremacy theories such as the Aryan Brotherhood would often prey on these individuals, who found themselves lacking the numbers and allies to put up a fight. His father died. You better get the hell out of here, Sandoval.. Some prisoners do so to affirm and convey gang membership, indicate their rank in that gang, or display their ability to endure pain. 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. Velasquez, No. The Real Reasons for Chicago's Deadly Crime Wave. It took the jury 33 minutes to decide that Sandoval was not guilty. But the report made no mention of Armando Garcia and El Carpintero; nor did it offer any evidence that Sandoval had actually smuggled drugs into Ellis I. Allies: Texas Mafia, Los Zetas; Theres no way to shut them down, Sandoval said. The assailant was nowhere in sight. If the Texas Syndicate had told him there was a murder happening, he wouldnt have gone for it. 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. The officials fitted Sandoval with handcuffs, leg irons, and a belly chain. Today supervisors advise guards: We cannot stop a hit. On the way home Sandoval asked his cousin to drive the scenic route. Tango. The horned hand-sign shows allegiance to . . Drugs come from the free world. Every time law enforcement thought that they had knocked out or retired the Eme organization, they found that the Eme came back again. With only an army surplus bag and a brand new journal in hand, she sets out to hitchhike from her home . And as you work there, you tend to become a product of your environment. In a sense, you become a convict also.. FBI sources have also reported that a code comprised of symbols and dots is primarily utilized by incarcerated Barrio Azteca gang members to correspond with other inmates within the prison system. 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. The investigators didnt tell me much, nor was I particularly inquisitive, he said. But others suspected that this hit was done on behalf of the Carrillo-Fuentes DTO (Juarez Cartel). An eight-inch metal shank lay nearby. 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. 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. He lit cigarettes, which led to other small favors, which led to bigger ones. Yet a former prison drug-runner confirmed the obviousthat without the help of TDCJ employees, the flow of drugs into state prisons would dry up. 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. He would stand at the searchers desk like he was running the building, Sandoval said. 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. Sandoval took a step toward the crashgate but was held back by the more experienced guard. The BA gang also imposes a street tax, or "cuota," on other criminal enterprises and businesses operating on turf where the Aztecas claim control. Facebook 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. The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato Tejano was the first prison gang to heavily impact the prison system in Texas. Everyone agreed that the building tender system was a cheap and crudely effective method of maintaining order. Sandoval insisted that he didnt know anything about the Arredondo murder other than what he filed in his report. Rosas would do the killing, while another TS member held Arredondo and two others stood by as lookouts.
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