FINAL EIGHT DEFENDANTS OF NUESTRA FAMILIA
PRISON GANG PLEAD GUILTY TO
FEDERAL RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY CHARGES

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced  that the final eight federal defendants in a joint federal and state investigation of the Nuestra Familia prison gang pled guilty to federal racketeering conspiracy charges today.

In pleading guilty, the five defendants admitted that while they were members of the Nuestra Familia, the organization murdered two former Nuestra Familia members and engaged in numerous drug transactions from which they profited.  

The defendants also admitted to the following facts: 

The Nuestra Familia is a criminal enterprise, founded in approximately 1965, which operated principally in Northern California and within California correctional institutions.  The organization unlawfully generated income and furnished financial support for its members, particularly incarcerated members.  Some members and associates of the Nuestra Familia engaged in acts of violence, including murder, robbery, extortion, and distribution of controlled substances on behalf of the organization, and all Nuestra Familia members were required, for life, to contribute twenty-five percent of any earnings, whether from lawful or unlawful means, to repositories known as Nuestra Familia "banks."

Individuals obtained membership in the Nuestra Familia upon sponsorship by a member and approval by high ranking members. The Nuestra Familia had an ascertainable structure separate and apart from the structure inherent in the conduct of its racketeering activity, including a hierarchical system of authority and a constitution that guided the operation of the organization.  The Nuestra Familia consists of hundreds of members and more than one-thousand associates, incarcerated and outside prison.  The organization's ruling body, variously known as the "Organizational Governing Body" (OGB) and "La Mesa," was comprised of inmates sometimes referred to as "generals" as well as other senior Nuestra Familia leaders in Pelican Bay State Prison, located in Crescent City, California.  Outside of penal facilities, the Nuestra Familia was divided into geographic "regiments" managed by "regiment leaders."  These regiments served as the basic unit or crew through which the Nuestra Familia conducted much of its criminal activity.  Subordinate to the members of the OGB were other members of the Nuestra Familia known by different titles or ranks such as "Category One," "Category Two," and "Category Three," during one phase of the organization, and captains, lieutenants, and soldiers, during another phase.  Each of these ranks entailed different and specific organizational responsibilities.  Individual members of the Nuestra Familia were often referred to as a "Familiano" or "Carnal."

To maintain discipline and allegiance, the Nuestra Familia leadership in Pelican Bay State Prison demanded frequent communication by members through assigned "channels."  Incarcerated Nuestra Familia members and associates communicated with each other and with those outside of penal institutions via inmates passing into or out of correctional facilities and prison visitors.  Coded letters, "micro-writings," known as "kites" or "wilas," and messages written on the insides of envelopes known as "ghostwriting" were also used for communication among Nuestra Familia members and associates.

Through such communication, the Nuestra Familia leadership remained abreast of the activities of members and associates inside and outside of correctional facilities and issued new rules and directives.  Individual members of the Nuestra Familia were often instructed to generate and contribute money to the organization, to establish regiments in different communities, and to commit various crimes, including murder.

The defendants further admitted that members and associates of the Nuestra Familia committed robbery to generate income for the enterprise.  That income was used by members for personal expenses and to purchase firearms, ammunition, pagers, automobiles, drugs for distribution and other items for use by the enterprise.  All Nuestra Familia members were required to contribute twenty-five percent of the proceeds of such robberies to a Nuestra Familia "bank."  The members and associates of the Nuestra Familia perpetrated these robberies within residential and commercial establishments, including banks, as well as against non-member and non-associate drug dealers.  Residential robberies against drug dealers, known as "home invasions," were committed to obtain money, drugs, firearms and other valuable goods from individuals.

Members and associates of the Nuestra Familia distributed controlled substances to generate income for the enterprise.  That income was used by members for personal expenses and to purchase firearms, ammunition, pagers, automobiles and other items for use by the enterprise.  All Nuestra Familia members were required to contribute twenty-five percent of the proceeds of such drug dealing to a Nuestra Familia "bank."  The controlled substances distributed by members and associates of the enterprise included methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.

The dependants further admitted that the members of the OGB, and to a lesser extent other Nuestra Familia Category One leaders, or captains, were responsible for establishing regiments and gang policy, resolving intra-gang disputes among members and associates of the Nuestra Familia, approving new memberships in the organization and authorizing significant actions by members of the Nuestra Familia and Nuestra Raza, including the commission of murder.  The members of the OGB and other Nuestra Familia leaders supervised, supported, and protected the other members of the Nuestra Familia and Nuestra Raza; in return, these leaders received a share of the illegal and legal earnings of the Nuestra Familia members.

Maintaining discipline within, and allegiance to, the Nuestra Familia organization was a constant concern and preoccupation of the Nuestra Familia leadership.  Some members of the Nuestra Familia, particularly those outside of correctional institutions, sought to distance themselves or even withdraw from the organization.  Others failed to earn and contribute money to the organization as generally required, or failed to fulfill specific instructions issued to them by leaders in Pelican Bay State Prison or regiment leaders on the streets.  Members often vied with one another for control and influence within the Nuestra Familia.  Some abused drugs in contravention of Nuestra Familia rules, while others committed serious crimes such as robbery or murder against fellow Nuestra Familia members without the proper authorization from the Nuestra Familia leadership.

The defendants admitted that they were leaders of the Nuestra Familia criminal enterprise and agreed that members of the organization would commit racketeering acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, including drug dealing, robbery, extortion, murder, and other illicit means by which Nuestra Familia members earned money and supported the organization.  The date has not been set for their sentencing.

Three other defendants, Daniel Perez, 46, Alberto Larez, 34, and Henry Cervantes, 40, pled guilty to RICO conspiracy involving drug trafficking.  The three will be sentenced on December 13, 2004.

The prosecution is the result of a lengthy joint federal and state investigation involving the U.S. Attorneys Offices in San Francisco and San Jose, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, California Department of Corrections, the Santa Rosa, Sonoma, and Monterey County District Attorneys Offices, the Modesto, Salinas, and Stockton Police Departments, and the Monterey County Sheriff"s Department. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven F. Gruel and Edward Torpoco, and by Department of Justice Trial Attorney Robert S. Tully.  Helen Yee, Diana Wong, and Barbara Phillips assisted in the investigation.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757.