He complained again that his overhead was too high; he had to charge $3,200 per pound of meth, while his competitors were selling it at $2,600 to $2,800. At first, Sir Dynos lead attorney Rosalind Manson thought she had a slam-dunk, a bring-on-the-First Amendment, lets-end-it-now case. David Rochas arrest report depicts a guy caught off guard. The young guys trying to make their name were always the craziest, just as Lizard once had been. They dont want guys to get close; it blurs the lines. It is a form of psychological torture." Perez says that, after the initial arrests of the five, attempts were made to persuade them to plead guilty or inform on their co-defendants and on Cuba by . The Nuestra Familia trial is expected to last four to six months, and the government will call seventy witnesses. There sat Cornelio Corny Tristan, one of three alleged NF generals. They pulled in young guys by the bushel.. We are not going to whack no DAs!. Henry Happy Cervantes spoke to Lizard alone. [Gratton] said he was sick and tired of going to prison, he didnt want to go back, he wants to be legitimate, Dyno recalls, so he wants to sell cars and start a record company. In the next room, Ragan and a team of detectives from the Santa Rosa Police Department listened to the meeting and watched it on a hidden camera. With most prison gangs who try and use the mail, theres a big lag time things get lost, hits get reversed so theres a lot of miscommunication. To the FBIs delight, he also boasted about his existing Ecstasy ring, which was clearing a few thousand dollars a week. He pleaded guilty to arranging two murders from prison, and will be sentenced to life in prison in December, along with the gangs generals. And I did my time for what I was doing. I didnt have a choice, he recalled. There was Henry Happy Cervantes, built like a fire hydrant, who got caught on an FBI wire offering to murder two Santa Clara County district attorneys. At the time of Operation Black Widow, law enforcement officials had estimated that Nuestra Familia was responsible for at least 600 murders in the previous 30 years. This was our college, Lizard said. Any Nuestra Familia member who betrayed his fellow carnals was subject to article two, section five of the groups constitution: AN AUTOMATIC DEATH SENTENCE WILL BE PUT ON FAMILIANO THAT TURNS TRAITOR, COWARD, OR DESSERTER [sic]. To Sir Dyno and his attorneys, the report demonstrates his utter confusion under unbelievable circumstances. It was a hell of an audience to keep waiting. As evidence, family members said, he had a large Aztec goddess tattooed atop the Nuestra Familia logo on his back. At night, he ordered rows of Nuestra Familia inmates to recite aloud Aztec war chants to rattle guards and enemies. Violence was averted in those cases, Gruel said. During his time with Nuestra Raza, Gratton learned the boot camp basics: how to make shanks, decode letters, and memorize the NF Constitution. The idea was that rap music could unite and galvanize young Norteo soldiers across the state, and it did. It is my hope the federal prison system is better equipped to derail the violence.. He just happened to have this talent, and he put this talent to use.. Thats it. Monday. Even though he was broke and sleeping on friends couches, Sir Dyno felt he was on the cusp of the big time, ready to break. The rapper arrived dressed in neatly pressed beige Dickies pants, spotless work boots, and an untucked flannel-print shirt a vato in his Sunday best, mumbling his apologies. He leaves behind a 3-year-old son of his own, but vows that the cycle of violence ends with him. So Lizard flipped. Ramirez confided to Lizard that his own boss, Heredia, who would later be Zilversmits client, wanted to go to war. What to do? Still, the accusations put Lizards conduct under scrutiny. Preparing is something someone whos trying to hide their guilt would do, he says, fingering a synthesizer keyboard in his studio. I said, Yeah, I could rap like that, whatever. Nineteen-year-old Armando Frias was shooting pool when he recognized the wanted man. Sir Dyno wanted to make a name for himself, Lewis says, so he sold his soul to the devil. His shackled codefendants didnt even look at him as he took his seat among them. Arnold Schwarzenegger protested the fact that the five were not scattered across the federal prison system, as former U.S. Attorney Robert Mueller's staff had promised. He took a job at a golf course and used his access to the links to reclaim his swing, sometimes playing 36 holes a day. But government agents said that Brown Bob actually had pulled away from the gang. After Gratton ratted out his fellow gang members one by one, offering a list of 350 names, he was moved into the federal Witness Relocation Program. I didnt care, he said later. So far as you can trust anyone in a gang, hed trusted Cuete. In NF, they dont want you to be friends in case you have to do something down the road, Lizard wrote. They were, according to the government, members of Nuestra Familia, Northern Californias most notorious and ruthless prison gang. But Lizard hadnt exactly gone straight. In May of 2001, Lizard met with Martin Ramirez, a gang member from Salinas. It gives you a sense of purpose. Police1 is revolutionizing the way the law enforcement community The images leave no doubt the rapper supports norteos. Man, Im from the streets. You cant smoke everybody that sells dope.. The three ounces found in Sir Dynos car, Gratton was claiming, came from him a statement which, if true, puts Sir Dyno squarely within the gang conspiracy. But one year later, his family moved to Long Beach, the heart of Sureo country. It wasnt quite the impression he wanted to make. Even outside prison, members were expected to remain loyal to the gang. I mean, he wasnt gonna tell me, and I wasnt gonna tell him what I was doing.. Thats who I am. Inside his Tracy home, he sits comfortably against the oversize cushions on his fluffy couch, with his baby daughter rocking to sleep a few feet away. There was also the lean and smooth figure of Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, the gang's most powerful captain, whose job inside Pelican Bay, a fellow gang member told the feds, was to "keister" the syndicate's constitution in his rectum, along with the master hit list which, by now, read fifty names long. In December of 2001, Daniel Hernandez became the highest-ranking member of the Nuestra Familia prison gang to cooperate with federal investigators. Ramiro Goose Garcia from Stockton complained that the gang wasnt sufficiently exploiting the Central Valley drug market. Later, when Heltons team arrested an alleged Nuestra Familia member named Vidal Spider Fabela during a traffic stop, they found G.U.N. If Nuestra Familia invested in meth labs, a network was already in place. Not at all coincidentally, Pelican Bay also has become the headquarters of Nuestra Familia. But a year into the case, the governments complaint against Sir Dyno shifted course. Snow-locked Highway 29 between Calistoga and the Lake County border will likely stay closed through the weekend, CHP announced Friday afternoon. He wanted gang members to start cooking the drug themselves. Lizard is unapologetic about his behavior, even today. He is the most significant witness and cooperators in this prison gang/organized crime family in history. I mean, I would think not, but you better have some realness to it if youre going to rap that way., Despite his marketed image, Sir Dyno now claims hes never known anyone who died from gang warfare, never had anyone close to him go off to prison. dozens of murders while imprisoned at Pelican Bay, including Membership. Lizard said he attacked Huero-T as he slept, pummeling him into a bloody mess until guards pulled him off. I told him, I know exactly who you are,' Holguin recalled. Copyright Weeklys All rights reserved. Once he made that choice, his own cunning and aptitude for violence catapulted him up the ranks of one of Californias most murderous gangs. Latinos, although initially thrown together, had to choose Norteo or Sureo. Assistant US Attorney Steven Gruel responded in court papers that federal agents couldnt be blamed for failing to notify the victim, since Sanchez already knew that he had serious problems with Heredias gang (in fact, he had been hiding). Gruel also offered four instances in which Lizards testimony did lead FBI agents to inform Norteos they were marked for death. The CD had been funded in 1998 from Pelican Bay prison by the top Nuestra Familia general, Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba. According to an FBI report, Cuete and his cohorts have continued to manage the gang while awaiting transfer to federal prisons from Alameda Countys Santa Rita Jail. The report counted nearly seven thousand cases of inmate assault in the states 32 institutions, along with nine murders that year, a steady increase over the past decade. Cuete had gone power mad. According to Lewis, the gang grew from about a thousand members in the late 80s to more than two thousand just six years later. When Lizard arrived in January of 1995, he checked in with the ranking gang member. He faced 25 years to life. His father sold vacuum cleaners; his mother was a housewife. Thousands bought the album in the major record chains like Sam Goody's. He arrived on time, with one of his friends waiting in the lobby. Salinas underboss Alberto Larez estimated that over the last ten years hed sent Cuete and the generals 40, 45 thousand dollars.. But within a few months, Nato got pinched for robbery, and with his long rap sheet, he got 39 years. Theres no denying Sir Dyno is norteo, but hes careful to explain that a norteo isnt necessarily a gang member, just a Chicano proud of his provenance. October 10, 1976. One such order last year told Norte-os across Northern California to clean the streets of Sure-os. For the first time in decades, one man sits alone at the helm of the criminal organization that for more than 30 years has called the shots for thousands of Norte-o gang members in the Salinas Valley. Lizard already knew all the old tricks. Heres my card.'. He said that was where he picked up the nickname Lizard, from friends who admired his clandestine nature.. Transferred to Chino State Prison, he celled with two Texas gang members whod been banished for terrorizing their own prison system. He had two daughters to support, and payments from other rap projects were slow coming in. Using racketeering statutes to bust the organized crime ring, the indictment carried six charges of murder or attempted murder, as well as charges of assault, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and arms dealing. He folded up the missive, stuck it to a piece of gum, and dangled it into Smileys cell using a thread of elastic hed plucked from his waistband. CD turned out to be one of about fifty disks the prolific rapper has appeared on in the past ten years, and the most militant in its norteo ideology. CD, Sir Dyno says. Not only had he given up his post on the street, but now theyd be suspicious that he was a narc. In September, the final eight defendants pleaded guilty, following the first thirteen members indicted. Lizard hadnt, so Nato schooled him on the long-standing war. prison gang are prepared to testify against their top leaders in a But life was still rough, he says, and drug deals and violence went down in front of his eyes, even if it was what he calls mostly high school stuff, kid stuff, stupid stuff. He admits to selling pot, but only small-time, just enough to support myself., From those experiences, he says, he extrapolated in his art, and began rapping in that netherworld of myth, that place where facts give way to the cushion of fiction, where arrogance and boasting overtake the narrative. Lawyers for the eight defendants, however, are likely to attack The words didnt sound right to Lizard. Lizards government handlers ultimately boasted that their prized informant delivered unprecedented effectiveness as a cooperating witness. According to a memo by prosecutors in the US Attorneys Office, his unshakable undercover effort will forever leave its mark in the history of law enforcement. Based on Lizards grand jury testimony alone, the US Attorneys office estimates that twenty Nuestra Familia members pleaded guilty, and five others were convicted in courts across Northern California. He was all business, all the time.. On seven of the CDs fourteen tracks, Sir Dyno raps as hired: Hes a heartless gangsta with a nihilistic agenda. He rapped about how much money hed make, how famous hed get, how many women he could tag, how many people hed shoot. All rights reserved. The theory went, if we separated the two gangs, wed have less problems, Vasquez said. He was sentenced to six months in the prisons infamous Secured Housing Unit, where more than a thousand inmates spend 23 hours a day triple-locked inside individual cells, with only a small food slot as a window. Inside the state prison system, norteos side with Nuestra Familias syndicates, and sureos with La Eme, aka the Mexican Mafia. And most of it hung on Lizard. The rapper says his final meeting with Gratton occurred while the label owner was outside washing his car. He said he knows they may try to find him, but that he will not hide. The five former leaders are James "Tibbs" Morado, 59, whose common-law wife, 20-year-old Salinas resident Crystal Nenque, was found slain on Hecker Pass Road near Watsonville in 2005; Joseph "Pinky" Hernandez, 58; Gerald "Cuete" Rubalcaba, 52; Cornelio Tristan, 46; and former Monterey resident Tex Marin Hernandez, 53. The guys I played with didnt care Norteo, Sureo, or what side you were on. As he awaits his new sentence, Lizard also awaits his new identity. This arrest data includes all information on current and previous arrests for . Otherwise, he was free to go about his business. And frankly, heres a guy whos committed numerous violent crimes, and hes getting a free pass. The founder of the failed company is Sam Bankman-Fried. Daniel "Lizard" Hernandez helped Nuestra Familia run a criminal empire from inside state prison. The unit requires pin-drop silence from its inmates. Special Agent Kelly explained to Rocha that he was being placed under arrest for violation of RICO conspiracy, the report states. One of the gangs living legends had recently been paroled. While Sanchez sipped beer, Frias met Martinez at his car. I fear no man, he said. Meanwhile, Daniel Lizard Hernandez is just one step away from his own day of reckoning, and from possibly reentering the outside world. Lizard says the drug was merely Vicodin, a pain reliever he took after strenuous workouts at the gym. In his role as head of security, Cuete was responsible for stashing the groups original constitution among his legal papers, and keistering the gangs master hit list in his rectum, according to FBI documents. Natos harsh sentence made Lizard rethink his lifes path. Lizard also sent Crazy Girl a decoding list, known in FBI documents as The Salutation Code. In each letter he wrote, the greeting unlocked a key to the rest of the letter. Copyright 2023 Sir Dyno, however, isnt charged with any individual crime, just one count of RICO conspiracy, and his connection to that crime seems to be largely related to his performance on Generations of United Norteos. No one who got whacked was an innocent man. You wont catch me slipping. Investigators ended Operation Black Widow in June of 2001. Over an ominous keyboard drone, he speaks deliberately, as if issuing a UN speech: The primary purpose and goals of this album is to promote unity amongst each and every one of us as norteos. Not far from Tristan sat Rico Smiley Garcia, facing the death penalty for carrying out his bosses orders and putting two bullets in the back of Castillos head. I also learned the informant was skimming money from the Nuestra Familia street leaders and not reporting this to me.. He was arrested by investigator Tim Helton for selling and transporting meth. The rationale for the federal case, officials said, was to cripple the gang's power base . He says theres a street code: You dont ever ask too many questions, and both men stuck to that code. Rocha did not seem to understand the reason for the arrest or the charge. For that reason, he explains, he turned to dealing methamphetamine. At the time, the $5 million price tag and networking of thirty different law enforcement agencies made it the most expensive and largest investigation into a California prison gang. Lizard himself adamantly denied Zilversmits claims, insisting that he pressed for peace in the case of Sanchez. And with an ever-increasing prison population that only assures the continued growth of it and other gangs, the very segregation that bolstered the gangs strength appears irrevocable. He found his man in David Sir Dyno Rocha, then a 26-year-old budding rhymer and producer from Tracy. Hoping to curtail the violence, wardens stopped putting Anglos, blacks, and Latinos in cells with one another. Like other major prison gangs, including the Aryan Brotherhood and the Mexican Mafia, Nuestra Familia issues orders from its power base in the Security Housing Unit of Pelican Bay. But the rapper has faith the judicial process will work in his favor. This is a combined effort to enlighten the worthy, as the time is now that we must leave old attitudes to the past, and adopt new and more meaningful and fulfilling ideas. Whatever you want. That 50 percent looked like gold., Sir Dyno claims he never asked where Gratton got his money, and whether or not the jury believes that could be key to his fate. He also was responsible for ensuring the battalions on the streets were holding fast against Sureos and sending drug profits to help pay the legal bills of their incarcerated generals. You have permission to edit this article. CD, Lewis and Helton say. And he got what he wanted., Out only three months, G.U.N. He suggested that gang members cook our own shit to gain control, saying he could make twenty pounds of raw meth in one batch. According to Ribotas report, when he asked about the rappers affiliation, Rocha denied having any gang involvement but is a norteo. Lizard swung his weight around hard. Even though hed participated in many stabbings and beatings in prison, hed avoided detection for most of his crimes. He was as bright and loyal as they came, so Cuete could trust him.. 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