He was arrested for driving while intoxicated, following a one-car accident that left his limbs temporarily paralyzed. Sandovals apparent relationship with the gang did not escape the attention of the Ellis I population. We assembled and maintain a team of the best talent with a keen eye on the future. Eventually the guard found himself engaging in polite conversation with the inmate. ), the group has somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 members across the United States (mainly on the east coast), in Canada, Mexico, and in several countries in central America. Unlike most state crises, there is absolutely no mystery to the takeover of our prisons by violent gangs. The gang also allies with other gangs including the Mexican Mafia and MS-13. Members of the Texas Syndicate regularly hold meetings (sometimes referred to as barbeques or juntas) where members discuss and vote on important decisions. West Texas Syndicate Energy. Uneasy truces between gangs have developed. By now he was a CO III, an old boot, and he had trained many of the guards who now worked with him. Sandoval told me that he took the money, though he denied it in court. He took up smoking, two packs every eight-hour shift. It was their fault, not his, but someone would have to take the fall. However, in the world of criminal gangs, where there is concern for nothing more than loyalty, initiation rites take a different and terrifying form. Its a society all its own. This time, however, four Internal Affairs officers greeted him inside by reading him his rights and charging him with murder. When asked on the witness stand if the hallway was ever undermanned, the reply of Nolan McCoolanother officer working the B-wing that afternoonwas emphatic: Constantly.. The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato Tejano was the first prison gang to heavily impact the prison system in Texas. I want to see the mountains, he said. Released or parole members who generate money for the gang must surrender a 10% tax ("the dime") of all proceeds toward the Texas Syndicate in prison. Sandoval got up, ran into the hallway, and yelled fight twice. He would stand at the searchers desk like he was running the building, Sandoval said. DPS says the 2014 arrest of cartel leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes diminished the gangs influence. When they got there they found Joe Arredondo lying on his back. 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. Neither possibility seemed likely, given what Sandoval had learned about TDCJ in his first few months on the job. The inmate, a former gang operative now in protective custody, pulled a hand-rolled cigarette out of his white shirt and lit it. Sometimes, members who have a problem or muleta that they need to work off in order to achieve better status with the TS are called upon to perform the ordered task. We know who you take orders from. Inmates know their surroundings, and they know that the surroundings are theirs. There were estimated _____ gang members at this time. All of the defendants remain in federal custody. Or if they cared to enforce the rule. However if a member is not deemed worthy to be initiated, the denied appellant could end up becoming victimized by the gang, such as making the person pay money for protection and be put to work for the gang through prostitution. That statistic does not come close to reflecting the actual number of TDCJ employees suspected of involvement in corrupt activities. Youre telling us its a coincidence that you werent down at the end of the hallway? Theres no way to shut them down, Sandoval said. He was whisked off to the Walker County jail. Well, so does the inmate. They are primarily poor children and in some cases orphans. Arredondo took the two hundred dollars, went home, and blew the money. Regardless of the members friendship or association with the victim, the orders are to be carried out since the rules mandate that the TS comes first, even before family. Id say about eighty percent of the inmates knew he was dealing clamed one inmate who was close to the action. Berry) Like fat-bellied ships heavily laden with riches, our 19 ewes lie uncomfortably at anchor, waiting to be offloaded. Joe Arredondo was taken to a hospital in Huntsville. After building tenders disappeared due to a court order, the Syndicate's activities turned to drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, protection, illegal gambling, and contract killing. Most new members are initiated in a two-step process. Whoever killed him had to have come through the B-wing hallway and had to have been dripping with blood. Prison officials could boast that their residents stood less chance of being killed than did the average Texas city dweller. Upon conviction of the drug trafficking charge: Castilleja, Luna, Salazar, Salas and Alvarez face between ten years and life in federal prison; Jimenez-Jaimes, Carrasco, Cantu, Accord, John Vera, Josh Vera, Anzaldua, Medina, Villarreal and May face between five and 40 years in federal prison; Armstead and Klasing face up to 20 years in federal prison based on their involvement, drug type and drug amount involved. The next day, Sandoval recalled, I walked into work feeling good. 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 . 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. It was a blind spot, and unit officials hoped the inmates wouldnt notice. A gurney was produced, but the inmate ignored it. In 2011, the FBI reported that Barrio Azteca also had members in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The Texas Syndicates control of those in prison is so far-reaching that members both in and out of prison follow a procedure by which the TS ensure that members are not and have not been police informants. The Junky Funky Kids, who operate in areas in and around the Cape Flats part of Cape Town, South Africa, are just one of several dangerous gangs that operate in those areas. Theyre gonna say you were in on it. You better get the hell out of here, Sandoval.. 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. Had Schapers investigation been thorough, this denial might have seemed implausible to the jury. That afternoon in the interrogation room, Special Prison Prosecution Unit investigator Royce Smithey bore down on Sandoval. Tri-City Bombers, Latin Kings and Surenos are more active on a street gang level. And the courier must possess a particular power: He must be able to walk through walls. Other members have been instructed to attack strangers or cops, and of course, many of the women who get into this gang do so by offering themselves to multiple members. At about five-thirty that afternoon, Sandoval approached CO II Cade Crippin, who was inside a cellblock, observing the inmates. However, it counts among its rivals some cartel heavyweights such as the Sinaloa Cartel, headed by notorious drug lordJoaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn, and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. [4] [5] Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Criminal activity 2 Structure Popular on college campuses, most fraternities or sororities still have rites of initiation, but the focus is now being put on making the experience fun and mildly embarrassing, rather than something that causes a new member to need therapy. In many places, it is normal to get "jumped in." In contrast, sixteen current or former Ellis I employees testified. After the lockdown, the murder rate plunged. Give me your shirt, he ordered an inmate and with it applied pressure to the wound. The soldiers and prospectos (prospects) are often used to carry out violent TS business. But the first six months is hell. Sandoval was determined to tough it out. house for rent waldport oregon; is thanos a villain or anti hero 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. Some are disgusting, some are dehumanizing and shocking, while others are just confusing. 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. Sandoval did not tell his mother why he was such a vulnerable candidate. But I was a good officer. Thus, the former good officer now wished to disavow everything he had told me earlier. A week later another juror wrote Sandoval a four-page letter, expressing her chagrin that he had been put through all the agony. Gang initiation typically has a homeboy requirement, that is, one of the other members can testify that they know the character of the prospective recruit and thus whether or not he deserves initiation. In 1850, the population of New York City had soared to well over one-half million residents. The murder came as a result of the Gulf Cartel hiring the Texas Syndicate to kidnap Serrano from his home in Texas and take him to cartel members in Mexico. 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. On the outside, the operation is run very much like a business, while inside the prison is where activities are ruthless and violent, particularly within the realm of initiation. Sandoval, in the meantime, worked at J.C. Penney in Plano. 0333 344 7476. muck tool progression. (This inmates name has been changed as a condition of his interview.) Meet the Barrio Azteca gang, considered one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Texas. The quality of cocaine is frequently discussed in terms of how pretty or how good the girls are. Payments for drugs are often called receipts and cheese.. As the free world would have it, there are good inmates and bad inmates. If the person answers that, he will put down his umbrella and stand in the rain (signifying willingness to share a burden and way of life). The Texas Syndicate (Spanish: Sindicato Tejano) is a mostly Texas-based street and prison gang consisting of predominantly Mexican American membership. After that first transaction, Sandoval went back for morea total of three, four, or five times, he told me, though he vividly described six transactions to an investigator hired by his family. Free Quote: 0333 344 7476 In prison, he had come to learn, if you gave, you got. TS rules are strictly enforced, primarily resulting in violent attacks on and executions of TS members who violate their rules. [1], Development of the Texas Syndicate was initially motivated by self-protection against the historical "building tenders" in prison. Six weeks later, in December 1987, Luis Sandoval was terminated from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Everyone wanted informationon the inmates, on their superiors, on their peers. 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. The two inmates snitched for Sandoval and herded him away from troublemakers, admonishing him, Boss, stay away from those guys.. When he sent the letter off to his mother, he knew it wouldnt be long before law enforcement officials discovered his whereabouts. They have their money. The new boots new habit, like everything else, was duly noted by the inmates. Drugs come from the free world. If you are facing serious criminal charges, you need a lawyer who is prepared to go to trial, Law Office of Sylvia A. Cavazos 110 Broadway St.Suite 210San Antonio, TX 78205 San Antonio Office, Phone:210-468-1130Toll Free: 800-681-6406Fax: 888-566-7765, 2023 Law Office of Sylvia A. Cavazos All Rights Reserved, Disclaimer| Site Map| Privacy Policy |Business Development Solutions by FindLaw, part of Thomson Reuters. Reminded that our earlier on-the-record, on-tape conversation contradicted this, he said, I have my life to think about.I made my mistakes. 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. As a result, members were able to expand their control throughout the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison system. No one, he seemed to be suggesting, was capable of telling the truth about Luis Sandovalnot even Sandoval himself. He lit cigarettes, which led to other small favors, which led to bigger ones. Initially formed in El Paso jails in 1986, the Barrio Azteca gang expanded to a transnational criminal organization, allying itself with the Juarez Cartel (pictured). [1] The Texas Syndicate has approximately 1,300 members, the majority of whom are Mexican American males aged between 20 and 40. When a new member is ready to be "patched in," they are instructed to go buy a new pair of jeans and a denim jacket. Like any good criminal organization, there is an interesting ritual for all new members, although there are some variations for different chapters. : 0333 344 7476 in prison afternoon in the interrogation room, Special prison Prosecution unit Royce... Cellblock, observing the inmates resulting in violent attacks on and executions of TS members who their!, on their superiors, on their superiors, on their peers would at. 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