Tryag File Manager
Home
-
Turbo Force
Current Path :
/
home
/
cluster1
/
data
/
bu01
/
1121861
/
html
/
electronic-docs
/
Nahuatl
/
Upload File :
New :
File
Dir
//home/cluster1/data/bu01/1121861/html/electronic-docs/Nahuatl/NPR Nahuatl in prisons.doc
ࡱ > V X U 5@ B bjbj22 "P X X : p p p p p p p 3 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 $ <4 R 6 2 p . . . 2 p p 2 1 1 1 . " p p 2 1 . 2 1 * 1 !2 p p !2 `W $ /1 !2 2 2 0 3 !2 ^7 1 ^7 !2 p p p p ^7 p !2 d 1 $ ( 2 2 ( 1 ( Profile: Nuestra Familia, a California prison gang March 7, 2005 MELISSA BLOCK, host: This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And I'm Robert Siegel. A federal judge in San Francisco is due to sentence five leaders of a California prison gang. The men have already pleaded guilty to drug dealing, extortion and murder across Northern California. What's unusual is that the gang leaders were already serving life sentences in one of America's most secure prisons when they ordered the crimes. BLOCK: California has the country's biggest prison system and the largest and oldest prison gangs. Most are headquartered at one facility, Pelican Bay State Prison. Experts say these gangs control crime far outside prison walls and across the country. Reporter Michael Montgomery of American RadioWorks spent six months following inmates and staff at Pelican Bay. (Soundbite of song) Unidentified Woman: (Singing) I fall to pieces... MICHAEL MONTGOMERY reporting: Cap's Saloon is a bar and card room in downtown Salinas, California. On a warm evening in May 2001, Armando Frias Jr. was here playing pool. Frias was 19 and an aspiring member of a gang that controlled drug sales in the area. At Cap's, he spotted a man who was in trouble with the gang for selling drugs without sharing his profits. Frias called his street bosses on his cell phone. They met him in the parking lot. They gave him a gun, and he went back inside. Mr. ARMANDO FRIAS Jr. (Nuestra Familia): When I walk in there, you know, I went to the jukebox--You know what I'm saying?--came up behind him and shot him. I thought I hit him in the back of the head, and I found out I hit him in the back of the neck. MONTGOMERY: The victim died at the scene. The Cap's Saloon murder was swept up in a large FBI investigation, and Armando Frias Jr. was arrested and imprisoned. But the leaders of the group behind the killing were already in prison. Frias was acting on behalf of a powerful Latino prison gang. The group is called Our Family; in Spanish, Nuestra Familia, or NF. Mr. FRIAS: All over Northern California, you got these regiments that are being ran by the NF. All these regiments' street gang members are out there selling drugs; they're paying a certain percentage to the NF, which they call paying rent or paying taxes. You know what I mean? That's the way the NF runs. I mean, that's the way they run the streets. MONTGOMERY: The NF isn't a street gang that's gone to prison; it's a prison gang that's hit the streets. And it's turned the California criminal justice system on its head. The NF and other prison gangs have flourished in a place designed to shut them down. (Soundbite of prison door shutting) MONTGOMERY: Behind a maze of concrete walls, high-voltage security fences and steel doors at Pelican Bay State Prison lies an inner sanctum. It's a prison within a prison commonly known as a supermax. The state of California calls this place the Security Housing Unit, or SHU. Most of the inmates here are gang members. Their cells are windowless and stark and have been condemned by human rights groups. The men are held here in virtual isolation to try to keep them from working together, but even the SHU can't stop some leaders from running their gangs. Joseph McGrath was warden at Pelican Bay until last year. Mr. JOSEPH McGRATH (Former Warden, Pelican Bay State Prison): The head leaders of the Nuestra Familia, the Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood, you name the prison gang, they are in prison. And they control the activities of the gang, both within the prison system and in our communities in California and now, unfortunately, have spread even to other states. MONTGOMERY: Prison gangs that started in California are now in more than 20 states. Recent surveys report more than 300,000 gang members in America's jails and prisons. For men like Epitasio Cortina(ph), the prison gang offered a strange kind of career as teacher, fighter, archcriminal. Mr. EPITASIO CORTINA (Former Member, Nuestra Familia): You know, I lived, I breathed, I ate, I slept, I thought the gang. You know... MONTGOMERY: Cortina is a heavy-set, 31-year-old Latino serving 15 years to life for murder. His body is covered with NF tattoos: a black eagle with arched wings on his wrist, the number 14 etched just above his left eye. Cortina spent eight years in the Pelican Bay SHU as a loyal captain in the Nuestra Familia. He recently left the gang and is housed in a special part of the prison. Cortina is now a target for being a gang traitor. Mr. CORTINA: When I became a member of the NF, I was then put in charge of a street regiment out there on the streets, meaning I was to help oversee that regiment, making sure that the members that we had out there was generating revenue for the organization in prison. MONTGOMERY: Cortina says he trained other inmates prior to their parole. Once out of prison, these men ran the gang's criminal network, including street gangs. Mr. CORTINA: You know, we educate them on vocabulary, how to speak properly, how to dress properly, blend in with society, so that way you can do your criminal activity on the under. And we also educated them on how to do bank robberies, how to do armored car robberies, how to do home invasions. MONTGOMERY: Cortina says parolees faced brutal retaliation if they didn't follow the gang's orders either on the streets or back in prison, where most gang members returned. Do you have any sense of how much money your group generated? Mr. CORTINA: (Exhales) A lot of money. MONTGOMERY: Tens of thousands of dollars? Mr. CORTINA: Yes, a lot of money. MONTGOMERY: And a lot of crime. Mr. CORTINA: Yes, a lot of crime. That's what they do. That's all they live for. MONTGOMERY: NF generals housed in the Pelican Bay SHU controlled dozens of street regiments like Cortina's. Twenty-five percent of profits, mainly from drug dealing, was deposited in NF bank accounts. To do all this, the gangs used ingenious methods. What do we have in front of us? Officer DAVID BARNEBURG(ph) (Pelican Bay State Prison): We've got several examples of what we call northern microwriting. MONTGOMERY: The NF passes messages in legal mail and in scraps of paper filled with tiny, almost microscopic script. NF members also use hand signals and code words in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Deep inside Pelican Bay's security wing, Officer David Barneburg shows off a pile of recently intercepted messages. Off. BARNEBURG: This is what we refer to as a BNL, a bad news list. This one I've got here is actually 14 pages long, contains about 1,500 names of northern Hispanics, their CDC number, any marks or tattoos they have we can identify them by. Whenever somebody arrives to our yard, this list will be referenced. If their name is on this list, they'll be targeted for assault. This is only a partial list. MONTGOMERY: And where was that list being kept? Off. BARNEBURG: That was actually recovered from a northern Hispanic on our B facility; it was recovered by B facility yard staff and was secreted in his rectum. MONTGOMERY: Covert gang communications are so pervasive that Pelican Bay actually banned anything written in Nahuatl, Swahili, Celtic and runic. But Lieutenant Robert Marquez, the prison's chief gang investigator, says the gangs still keep ahead of his small six-person unit. Lieutenant ROBERT MARQUEZ (Pelican Bay State Prison): Every time we tighten the screws, so to speak, they're going to find a way around it. MONTGOMERY: And Marquez says the aim is not just for communicating in prison. Lt. MARQUEZ: If they know a certain gang member's paroling, they'll give him all kinds of messages, phone numbers, contacts, hit lists. So the guy leaves here with a cache of information: people that are supposed to be murdered, people that are supposed to be extorted. MONTGOMERY: Out of prison flows crime. The NF has been linked to dozens of murders in Northern California. No place has been hit harder than Salinas. The farming town in California's Central Valley once inspired John Steinbeck. It now ranks third in the state for gang-related homicides per capita. (Soundbite of demonstration) MONTGOMERY: Demonstrators in Salinas recently gathered to mourn the city's 250th gang-related killing since the early 1990s. They beat drums, chanted and watched Aztec-style dancing. Most of the violence is between Northern and Southern California Latinos. They're directed or inspired by two long-feuding prison gangs: the Nuestra Familia and the Mexican Mafia. But not all the victims are gang members. Elsa Sandobal(ph) came here to remember her 27-year-old son Joey(ph). He was killed two years ago in what appeared to be a random shooting. His murder, like many in Salinas, remains unsolved. Ms. ELSA SANDOBAL (Mother of Victim): We won't stop. We won't stop until we find these son-of-a-bitches that killed our sons. We'll find them. MONTGOMERY: NF old-timers say this kind of street violence is not what the group was founded for. Like many prison gangs, the NF started as a prisoner defense group in the late 1960s. (Soundbite of surveillance tape) Group of Prisoners: (Shouting in unison in foreign language) MONTGOMERY: Over time the NF moved into the prison drug trade and grew more violent. NF generals imposed military-style discipline and a lifetime commitment often sealed in the killing of a rival. This surveillance tape shows an NF commander leading new recruits on a prison yard through a series of exercises called `the machine.' (Soundbite of surveillance tape) Group of Prisoners: (Shouting in unison in foreign language) Unidentified Man #1: (Shouting in foreign language) Group of Prisoners: (Shouting in unison in foreign language) MONTGOMERY: During the prison boom of the 1990s, the NF expanded in juvenile facilities and on the streets. To promote their cause, the NF even produced low-budget films and rap CDs with chilling lyrics. (Soundbite of song) Unidentified Man #2: (Rapping) Call you target practice where you got (unintelligible). Backup Singers: Pinta bound. Unidentified Man #2: (Rapping) ...(Unintelligible) now I gotta put him down. Backup Singer: Pinta bound. Unidentified Man #2: (Rapping) ...(Unintelligible). MONTGOMERY: `Pinta bound' means headed for prison. The song's message is that prison is inevitable, even desirable. By the time Willie Stokes was sent to Pelican Bay, he'd already been schooled by the NF in juvenile lockup. That's why he arrived to prison filled with the anticipation of a college freshman. Mr. WILLIE STOKES: Like when I first went to Pelican Bay, you know, it's like you're so fascinated by--`Oh, here's all these guys you always, you know, heard about, you know, all these guys that run everything.' And then, you know, you hear the way they talk, Aztec language, and it just--all this knowledge and philosophy from reading all this stuff just--you know, `Oh, I want to be like that. I want to be smart and educated like he sounds,' you know. MONTGOMERY: California's Department of Corrections has faced years of criticism and lawsuits for how it manages the state's prisons. Critics say that while prison gangs are a real threat, the department's tough response has only made the problem worse. Charles Carbone is an attorney with California Prison Focus, a prisoner rights group. Mr. CHARLES CARBONE (California Prison Focus): The model that the department practices is one of consolidation. By putting all of the gang members and associates in one place, in one environment, albeit, you know, they can only talk through perforated doors, there's a serious question as to whether or not the department is enabling greater communication and greater cooperation and facilitation amongst the gang members. MONTGOMERY: Joseph McGrath, Pelican Bay's former warden, says isolating gang members is justified and has cut violence in California's prisons. But McGrath concedes that prison, even a supermax like Pelican Bay, doesn't deter hard-core gang members. Mr. McGRATH: Well, it kind of gets down the issue of, `I'm already in Pelican Bay SHU. What are you going to do to me? I'm already doing life. What are you going to do to me?' So, really, they do operate pretty much with impunity. MONTGOMERY: There is now talk of overhauling California's Security Housing Units, including further isolating gang leaders in a sort of super-supermax. And the state has sent at least seven prison gang members to death row, but new leaders always emerge. Increasingly the federal government is trying to break the prison gangs. The three-year FBI investigation ended in the prosecution of dozens of Nuestra Familia members, including five NF generals serving life terms at Pelican Bay. Gang sources say the prosecutions have hurt the NF's street operations for now. And former Warden Joseph McGrath is happy to get the men out of Pelican Bay, but he worries what they'll do in federal lockup. Mr. McGRATH: When you take them out of the California system and you put them in the federal system, they communicate from there as well. As long as they're able to have rights of communication, they will do gang business, and it doesn't matter whose prison they're in. MONTGOMERY: Indeed, messages intercepted in December revealed that even as they awaited federal sentencing, the five NF generals were negotiating with interim leaders back at Pelican Bay Prison. What's more, investigators believe a new power struggle is under way within the Nuestra Familia. The dispute is about expansion into the federal prison system. For NPR News and American RadioWorks, I'm Michael Montgomery. (Soundbite of song) Unidentified Man #2: (Rapping) ...put 'em in the ground. Backup Singers: Pinta bound. Unidentified Man #2: (Rapping) ...(Unintelligible) now I gotta put him down. Backup Singer: Pinta bound. SIEGEL: American RadioWorks is the documentary unit of American Public Media. This story was produced in cooperation with the Center for Investigative Reporting. On "Weekend Edition Saturday," a report on how Pelican Bay inmates leave the prison gangs for a new life. (Soundbite of song) Unidentified Man #2: (Rapping) ...(Unintelligible) when ...(unintelligible). When the winner jumps up, I'll break his neck in a choke. Closely mourn (unintelligible) front teeth. Pity's ...(unintelligible). I'm in deep to the point of no return. But we gotta keep it livin'. That's what the youngsters gotta learn. If we back down now, it was all for nothing. Wanna die, wanna die representing something. Don't you see that it's on in the streets... SIEGEL: You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Copyright 1990-2004 National Public Radio. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission. For further information, please contact NPR's Permissions Coordinator at (202) 513-2000. 3 5 C E L R u { J P # ) H N X ^ R X ' . W ] H N B H E$ L$ $ $ % % % % & & T) Z) ͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷͷ +h h/h 5B*CJ OJ QJ \aJ ph %h h/h B*CJ OJ QJ aJ ph h h/h CJ +h h/h 5B*CJ OJ QJ \aJ ph H + / m " C gd/h B - o! # 5# # $ z% % & ( "( x* + + + !, n- - - . A. / #/ |/ / / 0 gd/h Z) t+ z+ M, S, -- 3- X. ^. e0 k0 0 0 31 91 3 3 3 3 c4 i4 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 8 P9 V9 ; ; < < /= 5= D? J? {A }A B B ͺ h+# %h h/h B*CJ OJ QJ aJ ph h h/h CJ +h h/h 5B*CJ OJ QJ \aJ ph %h h/h B*CJ OJ QJ aJ ph *0 :0 o1 73 4 36 .7 8 : ; }= = = = 8> U> b? w? :A B gd/h 1h / =!"#$% @ ` @ /h N o r m a l CJ _HaJ mH sH tH D A@ D D e f a u l t P a r a g r a p h F o n t R i@ R T a b l e N o r m a l 4 l 4 a ( k@ ( N o L i s t < O < S t y l e 3 1$ ` CJ h R @ R O F o o t n o t e T e x t 1$ 7$ 8$ H$ CJ PJ aJ tH O" @ S t y l e F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e + T i m e s N e w R o m a n 1 1 p t B o l d S m a l l c a p s ( CJ H* OJ QJ S* \aJ kHmH sH u @ &@ !@ F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e H* O"1 iC 0 S t y l e F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e + T i m e s N e w R o m a n 1 1 p t OJ QJ kHmH sH u < +@ B< iC E n d n o t e T e x t CJ aJ OAR iC 1 S t y l e F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e + T i m e s N e w R o m a n 1 1 p t 1 CJ H ObH iC F o o t n o t e t e x t 0 *$ r O qr : " S t y l e S t y l e F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e + + CJ H*OJ QJ S* aJ O : - S t y l e S t y l e F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e + + 1 1 p t B o l d CJ H* OJ QJ S* aJ : P + / m " C - o 5 z " x" # # # !$ n% % % & A& ' #' |' ' ' ( :( o) 7+ , 3. ./ 0 2 3 }5 5 5 5 86 U6 b7 w7 :9 : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 + / m " C - o 5 z " x" # # # !$ n% % % & A& ' #' |' ' ' ( :( o) 7+ , 3. ./ 0 2 3 }5 5 5 5 86 U6 b7 w7 :9 : My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 My00 0 Z) B " & 0 B # % ' B $ = = \ = = T = = = L = t = 4& = != "= #= $ $= T %= &= 46 '= (= d )= *= , += * ,= + -= \+ .= /= 0= 4! 1= t! 2= ! 3= ! 4= | 5= 6= 7= < 8= | 9= := ;= < <= | == >= ?= < @= | A= B= C= < D= | E= F= G= H= D I= J= K= L= D M= N= O= P= D Q= R= S= T= D U= V= W= X= D Y= Z= [= \= D ]= ^= _= `= D a= b= c= d= D e= f= g= h= D i= j= k= l= D m= n= o= p= D q= r= s= t= D u= v= w= x= D y= z= {= |= D }= ~= = = D = = = = D = = = = D = = = = D = = = ! = D! = ! = ! = " = D" = " 5 x ' ' $ $ - ? A A / / " " - - z z . e e " " ? ? \" \" # # !$ !$ A& A& :( :( ( ( ( ) ) ) 7+ 7+ C+ C+ X, X, , , 3. 3. O. O. W. . . . . / 0 0 C0 C0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 &7 &7 .7 : ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 7 6 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R T S U W V X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b d c e f g i h j k l m n p o q s r t u v w x z y { } | ~ & & B 1 1 + 7 7 R K K 9 9 , , 7 7 A l l , , F F c" c" # # +$ +$ K& K& D( D( ( ( ( ) ) ) A+ A+ M+ M+ b, b, , , =. =. V. Z. Z. . . / / / 0 0 M0 M0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 -7 17 17 : ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 7 6 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R T S U W V X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b d c e f g i h j k l m n p o q s r t u v w x z y { } | ~ 8 { *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsCity = r *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PlaceName = q *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PlaceType 9 ~ *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsState 8 } *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsdate B v *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region V *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplace http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/ 200537DayMonthYear ~ } { ~ v ~ r q { ~ { { ~ { ~ r q ~ { ~ v { { { { { { { r q { { { { ~ { { { { { { { r q r q { ~ ~ ~ { r q ~ r q { ~ r q r q ~ { r q r q D N ` e B G : ? ! s { ( / s z { = E F M ; B W ^ _ f * 1 : f! m! n! u! ! ! # # o% x% ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' G( L( <, C, . . 2/ 9/ 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 4 4 4 4 X5 b5 ~5 5 5 5 5 5 #6 (6 G6 L6 f6 p6 c7 l7 t8 y8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 : { ~ F N ; > ! ! ' ' $( (( /0 30 6 6 7 7 18 58 59 89 }9 9 : 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 : J o n a t h a n D A m i t h > w I l & 3+ 5 V28 iC / O Q +# : * -v OF /h @ D D D D @{ : p @ U n k n o w n G z T i m e s N e w R o m a n 5 S y m b o l 3& z A r i a l 7& V e r d a n a G M S M i n c h o -3 f g " q h CF CF 2 j 2 j $ 24 : : 3Q H ) ? I 3 P r o f i l e : N u e s t r a F a m i l i a , a C a l i f o r n i a p r i s o n g a n g J o n a t h a n D A m i t h J o n a t h a n D A m i t h Oh +'0 ( D P l x 4 Profile: Nuestra Familia, a California prison gang rof Jonathan D Amith Fam ona ona Normal.dot A Jonathan D Amith Fam 1 na Microsoft Word 10.0 @ @ $@ $ 2 ՜. +,0 ( h p Yale University j : A 4 Profile: Nuestra Familia, a California prison gang Title ! " # $ % & ' ( * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D F G H I J K L N O P Q R S T W R o o t E n t r y F n $Y 1 T a b l e ) ^7 W o r d D o c u m e n t "P S u m m a r y I n f o r m a t i o n ( E D o c u m e n t S u m m a r y I n f o r m a t i o n 8 M C o m p O b j j F Microsoft Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8 9q