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The method was also wed with ideas of race because prison gangs are primarily built within racial structures. Both the Texas Syndicate and Mexikanemi team up against the Barrio Azteca. The jurors in Sandovals trial werent convinced that Sandoval worked for or with the gang in any way (McKay, 1991). - Were still trying to learn about their culture and figure out what makes them tick, James Farley, FBI supervisory special agent, and expert on organized crime, says of the Albanians. The rising racial tensions finally bubbled over into bloodshed in the nearby town of Marion on February 18, 1965, when state troopers clubbed protestors and fatally shot 26-year-old Jimmie Lee. In 1991, for example, a prison guard who worked at the Ellis I unit where Sandoval had once worked was indicted with drug muling. In fact, from roughly 1986 to 1991, the special prison prosecution unit charged at least sixty Texas prison guards with felony offenses (Draper, 1991). 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. And while Sandoval was acquitted, his criminal proceeding unleashed denunciation. The details of exactly who he saw murdered were not clear but according to homicide records, the victim was probably Cesario Gonzales who was killed on August 31, 1985. May 2, 2011. Formed in the California prison system in the 1970s by incarcerated Tejanos, the Texas Syndicate sought protection against Californios. (Associated Press), In 1993, the Barrio Azteca brutally beat and murder a Texas Syndicate member in the El Paso county jail causing the Texas Syndicate to alliance its self with the Mexikanemi. Bloody Sunday is a dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972. Securing employment, it seemed, was more important at that moment then securing a college degree. One of these banks was discovered by accident by the Dsseldorf police when they were checking a travel agency "Eulinda" owned by the Albanians. 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, This topic also continues to lack historical focus within mass incarceration and prison studies. As a street gang, heavy activity has been reported in Austin, Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, the Rio Grande Valley and the Dallas Fort Worth area. Released or parole members who generate money for the Texas Syndicate must surrender a 10% tax ("the dime") of all proceeds toward the gang in prison. 3. (El Paso Times), On August 17, 1997, Texas Syndicate members murder Gerardo Garcia in the El Paso County Jail. It has 14 wells on the property starting in 01-01-1993. After this incident Sandoval soon realized it was the inmates who ran the prison, not the guards, and surely not the state of Texas. As a street gang, heavy activity has been reported in Austin, Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, the Rio Grande Valley and the Dallas Fort Worth area. There were approximately sixty prison gang related homicides between 1984-1985. The process of downing the duck is described as an inmate or a group of inmates manipulating a guard or staff member into undertaking very small tasks perceived to be innocuous. During Sandovals trial, witnesses told a Walker County jury that doors in the Ellis I prison units south end were routinely left unlocked by guards in 1986. He was stabbed approximately twenty times in the B-Wing of the Ellis I Unit in Huntsville. 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 (Draper, 1991). Scholars have employed the phrase mass incarceration to explain and define this increased surge of incarceration in the U.S. that affected people of color, in particular African Americans. Sunday. Sunday Bloody Sunday Lyrics [Intro] Yeah, mm-hm [Verse 1] I can't believe the news today Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away [Refrain] How long? This would also provide an insight into the reach of prison gangs like the Texas Syndicate towards prison guards. In fact, the building tender system had purposely ignored Mexican Americans as potential candidates based on racial ideas. TDC guard indicted in 1986 slaying of inmate. Houston Chronicle. The Artichoke King Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova controlled the 116th Street Crew during the prohibition era. Ultimately, as the histories of prison continue to expand, the inclusion of Mexican Americans as an integral population to its history is necessary; we grow to contest the views of Mexican Americans as a criminalized population, discern an increased incarcerated population, and also recognize them becoming institutional operatives of the prison system itself. He largely failed in attempts to procure streams of revenue, namely from drug trafficking for the Texas Syndicate. But the circumstances surrounding the murder also exposed internal issues of the prison system which the trial brought to light. In the early 1960s, Anthony Salerno became one of the most powerful capos in the family. Sandoval may have seen these interactions as encouraging, but inmates instead saw vulnerabilities and took advantage. This problematic worldview clouded his outlook as a prison guard. As of 2000, the Texas Syndicate had about 19,000. members in prisons and jails state-wide, with many more on the outside. With the Texas prison administration on alert with the rise of homicides, unit officials had to respond quickly to disturbances. In July 2007, Texas Syndicate members murder Marcelino "Mars" Rodriguez Torres in Mc Allen, Texas after the gang suspects Rodriguez is a police informant. On Monday [June 24], at eight in the morning, Sandoval reported for duty at the Ellis I training academy in Huntsville (Draper, 1991) where he eventually secured employment with the TDC as a prison guard after completing several weeks of mandatory training. All Rights Reserved. Two guards, Joel Lambright Jr. and Alex Torres, were also charged in 1994 with murder after Sandoval was charged and convicted (Smith, 1994). Albanian mobsters Rexho and Luan feature in the Danish crime film Pusher III . This marriage took place only after Sandoval was able to attain job security with the Texas Department of Corrections as a correctional officer in Huntsville. Their gang activity in this case was approved because of racial kinship. The group planned to march to the state capitol in Montgomery, 54 miles away, to protest of the February 26 murder of Jimmy Lee . Albanian organized crime has created new and unique problems for law-enforcement officers around the country, even threatening to displace La Cosa Nostra (LCN) families as kingpins of U.S. crime, according to FBI officials. While violence is demonstrably visible here, the larger picture was that an economic free market was being fought over for control of the drug trade as well as other illicit economic endeavors. This study is also meant to highlight not only Mexican American prison gangs but the overall Mexican American experience for inmates and guards within the confines of the world of prisons. The panel consisted of acting/front boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, underboss Gerardo "Gerry" Catena and consigliere Michele "Big Mike" Miranda while others served in the advisory capacity, Mike Coppola was considered an influential capo and was used to help the panel. These allegations of internal issues of the TDCJ leveraged by Sandoval may not have been directly addressed, however, a new development became the designated base where prison officials addressed criminal concerns inside the walls of Texas prisons. Southern Albanian groups also have good relationships with Sicilys Cosa Nostra "The Albanian criminals were special from the beginning," said Francesca Marcelli, an organized-crime investigator for the Italian government. (Gang Intelligence 101), In April 2002, members of the Texas Syndicate murder a Tango Blast member at the J.B. Connally state prison. TheTexas Syndicate(or Syndicato Tejano) is a mostly Texas-based prison gang that includes Hispanic and at one time White members (The organization at one time did allow non-Hispanic members to join, but that policy was repealed in the 1980s). The murder involved a cocaine deal gone badly. Albanian mafia The Albanian Mafia or Albanian Organized Crime are the general terms used for criminal organizations based in Albania or composed of ethnic Albanians . Membership was tied to their regional home state and in this case trumped ethnicity as the only restriction towards membership. Bloody Sunday, 21 st November 1920 In 1920 the War of Independence was ongoing in Ireland. (Associated Press), On FEBRUARY 12, 2007 17 Houston area Texas Syndicate members are charged for several area murders, racketeering, armed robberies and drug trafficking. On the morning of November 21st, an elite assassination unit known as 'The Squad' mounted an operation planned by Michael Collins, Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). A later inquiry unveiled an army cover-up. While the lawyers made their arguments for and against Sandovals case, Sandoval expressed the states impetus to charge him which he argued was based on an entirely different motivation. New employment opportunities were too good to pass up for Sandoval and broadly speaking, for Mexican Americans. Other factors that were possible motivators were being part of an economically disadvantaged social group, the reality of low wage work as a prison guard, or merely feeling trapped because of the fear of reprisal by prison gang members. One of Italy's top prosecutors, Cataldo Motta , who has identified Albania's most dangerous mobsters, says they are a threat to Western society. He ultimately lost his job, his wife divorced him, he was in a car crash during this period that left him in debt and suffering from the injuries. Ethnicity and state identity likewise impacted Luis H. Sandovals relationships with inmates. Vincent continued operating from Brooklyn and Ciro continued expanding his operations in East Harlem and The Bronx. Valverde who renounced his former prison gang stated, I had to do a hit on another inmate. 50 Years On, Bloody Sunday's Wounds Are Still Felt - The New York Times. On Wednesday, May 29, the jurors milled around outside the courtroom and vented their disgust with the states case to the media (Draper, 1991). Fields such as criminal justice, sociology, and criminology have provided vast research into prison gangs, and more specifically Mexican American prison gangs. These actions were either through bribery, profit, blackmail, and even threats of violence to the guards or their families. After his short stop off at Conroe, they made their way to Huntsville, the capital of the Texas Department of Corrections, and since 1989 known as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 1993, the Barrio Azteca brutally beat and murder a Texas Syndicate member in the El Paso county jail causing the Texas Syndicate to alliance it's self with the Mexikanemi. Sandoval was charged with criminal homicide under state law that provides penalties for persons who aid in a killing but do not actually participate in the act (Buentello, 1987). Several key figures of the Albanian Mafia seem to reside frequently in the Calabrian towns of Perugia, Africo, Plati, and Bovalino (Italy), fiefs of the Ndrangheta. 14764 03/20/1991 278TH Judicial District Court, Scholarships and Resources for Hispanic and Latino Students. 8/21/2008) (Tex. The Texas Syndicate's golden rule is as simple as it is merciless: Betray us and you're dead.. South Texas Syndicate estimated lease property, in the most recent month of production (10-01-2022), produced 159 bbls of oil and 0 mcf of natural gas. They are said to be present in every big city in Britain as well as many smaller ones including Telford and Lancaster , after having fought off rival criminals in turf wars. In 1993, the Barrio Azteca brutally beat and murder a Texas Syndicate member in the El Paso county jail causing the Texas Syndicate to alliance it's self with the Mexikanemi. (Associated Press), In July 2007, police find the burned body of a Marcelino Mars Torres in Hidalgo County. (Hernandez v. Johnson, 108 F.3d 554 (C.A.5 (Tex. However, Sandoval later recanted the statements he made to Draper concerning these acts. They start rumors to your supervisor that youre bringing in drugs, or theyll bring bogus grievances against you, Ware said. 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. However, after the disturbance was quelled, in an adjacent room, Leonel Perezs body was found. Alfred Shkurti (also known as Aldo Bare): The boss of one of the most notorious criminal syndicates in Albania known as the Banda e Lushnjs (The Lushnja Gang). He could not return to employment at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Sandoval as a Mexican American new boot, at the ripe age of twenty-one, during the most violent period of Texas prison history succumbed and became a duck as employment for Mexican Americans was not taken for granted. On Jan. 30, 1972, in the Northern Ireland town of Derry, a peaceful march involving 15,000 civil-rights marchers turned violent when British troops fired on the protesters. The day began with an IRA operation, organised by Michael Collins' Intelligence . Albanian Mafia families or clans are usually made up of groups of fewer than 100 members, constituting an extended family residing all along the Balkan route from Eastern Turkey, to Western Europe, and North America. In On Bloody Sunday, a new collage of eye-witness accounts, Julieann Campbell, a niece of one of the victims, does a remarkable job of taking the reader vividly back to a past that still haunts. There are a lot of ways they can get you in trouble (McKay, 1991). A week later another juror wrote Sandoval a four-page letter, expressing her chagrin that he had been put through all the agony (Draper, 1991). The Rudaj Organization , also called "The Corporation", was a well known Albanian criminal organization operating in the New York City metro area. The Texas Syndicate 2,082 views Jun 18, 2022 62 Dislike Share Save Gangsters Cops and Politicians 3.4K subscribers Gang Expert Gabe Morales discusses the California roots of the Texas. He was fatally stabbed by confirmed Texas Syndicate member Antonio Hernandez who was serving a seventeen-year burglary conviction (Buentello, 1986). They are led to believe they must join a prison gang for protection and in the process of believing this, they eventually secure longer terms of incarceration. This moment was set during the height of prison gang violence that struck the TDCJ during the mid-1980s. The name Rudaj comes from the boss of the organization. Soon after he began his work as a correctional officer, Sandoval witnessed his first homicide at the Ellis I Unit. Eventually we found out that "Eulinda" had already transferred 150 million dollars to Kosovo for "humanitarian purposes", says Bruckert. Conclusion Vice squad officers estimate that "Albanians now control more than 75 per cent of the countrys brothels and their operations in Londons Soho alone are worth more than 15 million a year." In the early 1960s Mike Coppola was imprisoned on tax evasion charges and followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Ciro Terranova, being put on the shelf after his release from prison in 1963. (Draper, 1991) By John Dorney. Enver Sekiraqa : Leading person of organized crime in Kosovo, aka the boss of the bosses, who is on the Interpols wanted list for several crimes. The issues of guards becoming corrupted continued and continues well into the 2010s. Ortiz was the cellmate of John A. Hernandez, a high-ranking member of the Texas Syndicate. The larger pool of applicants paved the way for many new minority employees such as Mexican Americans to join the staff of the Texas prison system. Released or parole members who generate money for the Texas Syndicate must surrender a 10% tax ("the dime") of all proceeds toward the gang in prison. Texas Syndicate moved into Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). International activity Scandinavia "The ethnic Albanian mafia is very powerful and extremely violent," said Kim Kliver, chief investigator for organized crime with the Danish National Police. Associations principally began because of his shared ethnic background with many of the inmates, where their ethnic kinship was highlighted and then thusly exploited by the inmates. The Bloody Sunday killings cast an indelible stain on British history and scarred the life of more than 30 families and the wider communities of Derry.