The thought worked away at his nerves. The gang murders that once took place inside prisons now take place on the streets. To the newer guards, Sandovals stature among the inmates was something to behold. Not only was the event novel at the time, it started the trend of airfield racing across the country. The main activities of the TS are centered on drug trafficking, extortion, protection rackets, and internal discipline and contract murdering. The procedure is referred to as clearing a TS member or running the lights. Members in prison were cleared by exhibiting documentation such as plea agreements, presentence investigation reports, judgments or other case-related document, to enable higher-ranking members to verify that the person to be cleared did not cooperate with law enforcement. Eventually, Sandoval agreed to bring drugs into Ellis I. Sandoval weighed his choices. For several days, Sandoval read the Bible and considered his options. And each gang, after accomplishing the first objective of protection from other gangs, preyed on inmates who would buy drugs or sex or who could be intimidated into giving sex or buying protection. RELATED:Why 'El Chapo's' beauty queen wife says she is 'afraid for his life'. In 2011, the FBI reported that Barrio Azteca also had members in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Sandoval took a step toward the crashgate but was held back by the more experienced guard. b. making a financial donation . One day Garcia told Sandoval to expect a call at home that evening. But the first six months is hell. Sandoval was determined to tough it out. The caller advised Sandoval not to show up for his March 18, 1991, trial, and then hung up without identifying himself. They will brutally violate any men they wish to join their cause and catch it on video tape. 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. Texas Syndicate: Founded in the 1970s at the Folsom State Prison in California ; . Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. When cocaine is available, the supplier might tell his customers that he had work available. 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. Well, so does the inmate. Conditions were no different on December 17, 1986, which was why Sandoval was given the assignment of B-wing hall boss that afternoon. Click Expand to view. The gate opened. Ranking structure : Paramilitary/Buisness Territory : Houston . Company profile page for Texas American Syndicate including stock price, company news, press releases, executives, board members, and contact information Absolutely not. Throughout the Sandoval trial, guards on the witness stand were asked if they had ever stopped a gang member from murdering an inmate. Compared with Luis Sandovals quiet life in Alice, Ellis I must have seemed like an opium den. Membership is for life. Bring on the Shiplap? Given the size of the gang and the number of areas in which they operate, there are a few initiation rituals. Apple Jack protected his mule, however, and though many knew of the officers extracurriculars, the hammer never fell on him. That statistic does not come close to reflecting the actual number of TDCJ employees suspected of involvement in corrupt activities. Coded language is frequently utilized in order to mislead law enforcement as to the true message contained in the letters or telephone calls. The officials fitted Sandoval with handcuffs, leg irons, and a belly chain. [4] [5] Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Criminal activity 2 Structure Formed in the California prison system in the 1970s by incarcerated Tejanos, the Texas Syndicate sought protection against Californios. Prison units are individually controlled by a local chairman and vice chairman. Sandoval, in the meantime, worked at J.C. Penney in Plano. 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. The threat being that they will show it to that person's family members, destroying them in the eyes of those they love. He just got involved with the wrong people.. A fresh take on sports: the biggest news and most entertaining lists. To make identification difficult for prison officials, most gang members no longer wear tattoos. 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.. On March 19, the name of Luis Sandoval was called three times in the Walker County courthouse, but the defendant did not respond. Ten months after the murder, on October 23, 1987, Sandoval was again summoned to the wardens office. We know who youre tied to. First, they have to kill a rival gang member, and once their kill has been confirmed, they are brutally beaten by other members while local leaders count to thirteen slowly. Sandoval buckled. Over time, Sandoval got sucked into the undertow of prison life. 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. 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. The mule, they believed, had done the drugs himself. Other weapons were by-products of inmate ingenuity, as in the case of Cosmo, the death row inmate who fashioned a bomb out of matchstick tips and an asthma inhaler and blew a hole in his cell wall. TI was developed in 2010 in an effort to create a new breed of automobile competition. Sandoval got up, ran into the hallway, and yelled fight twice. He continued to walk, step after tortured step, a full fifty yards, before collapsing, dead, in the doorway of the infirmary. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The packages, he admitted, most likely contained drugs. The guard said he wasnt tied to anyone. Theres no way to shut them down, Sandoval said. Any violation of the rules may result in harsh penalties, including death. Sandoval did not tell his mother why he was such a vulnerable candidate. The inmate staggered forward, blood gushing from his head and neck. Like any good businessman, Garcia kept a close eye on the marketplace. Hey, Boss, you got a light? Every newly hired prison guard, or new boot, hears the question. 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. Youre telling us its a coincidence that you werent down at the end of the hallway? The Triad is the most widely-recognized of Chinese gangs and has chapters all over the world; basically anywhere in which there is a large Chinese community. Their initiation ritual may not be practiced by all chapters these days, but it is pretty simple and disgusting. Running Into Fire: The Legacy of Jeff Blackburn, The Apache, the Irish Catholic Priest, and a 40-Year-Old Miscarriage of Justice, An Unforgettable Texas Tale of Envy, Embezzlement, and Fruitcake, How the Texas Rangers Became One of the Most Powerful Forces in the State, How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. Se Habla Espaol Call For aFREEInitial Consultation. I want to see the mountains, he said. There are examples of people dying or being seriously injured during initiation stunts gone wrong. Then he returned to Arredondo. There is then a period of time during which those clothes cannot be washed. A few days later, on April 12, 1991, FBI agents showed up at the apartment where Sandoval had been hiding and took him to the Los Angeles County jail. One of them is fear. While this may not be the only initiation used by the Texas Syndicate, it is a popular one and frankly makes the most practical sense in terms of actually advancing the gang's goals. 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. He was accused of leaving a door unsecured and unguarded as part of a murder plot. The system snitches on one mule while protecting another. 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. 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. 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. [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. The gang, like most prison gangs, has members behind bars and members on the outside, and as of the 2000's, had membership that was in the thousands (about 7,000 in 2005). The enterprise constitutes an ongoing organization whose members function as a continuing unit for a common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise. He was arrested for driving while intoxicated, following a one-car accident that left his limbs temporarily paralyzed. That afternoon in the interrogation room, Special Prison Prosecution Unit investigator Royce Smithey bore down on Sandoval. They were founded in Nigeria over a decade ago, but now operate in several African countries. Tejanos were being preyed upon by California prison gangs in some of the most notorious California . Even after Arredondos murder, when the Special Prison Prosecution Unit began to gather incriminating evidence against Sandoval, Peterson showed little interest in the details. The relationships between gangs and cartels are constant, but show no particular loyalties or allegiances. Or if they cared to enforce the rule. 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. There were estimated _____ gang members at this time. So wed just lay back, let him cool down. Six weeks later, in December 1987, Luis Sandoval was terminated from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In the Kikuyu language, "mungiki" means "united people" or "multitude," and the basic goals of the group include rejection of all things Western and embracing traditional African culture. In 1850, the population of New York City had soared to well over one-half million residents. The brutality of the murder, coupled with Sandovals complete inability to prevent it, made quite an impression on the young guard. Rumor had it that inmate Jesse Turner had stood between an inmate and a prison official and had taken the blade himself. The so-called "hybrid members" allow the gangs to grow their empires with increased influence both in prisons and on the streets. Pascual Salazar, age 36 of Austin, one kilogram or more of heroin. 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. 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