While gangs may not have iron-fisted control over prison life, it would be wrong to think they lack influence. The perception of power is stronger than its reality. Few prisoners, including gang members, believed that gangs brought order to prisons or made prisons safer, a claim often made about prison gangs. Prison gangs were described as “watered down,” no longer having the teeth to enforce rules, especially the security threat groups. The people we spoke with made it clear that prison gangs in Texas are not what they used to be. Nearly all of the prison gangs were composed of a single race or ethnicity. Geographic proximity is the great social sorter for street gangs it is race and ethnicity for prison gangs. Race and ethnicity mattered to all gangs. ![]() The remaining gangs are called “cliques.” If security threat groups are like criminal organizations, cliques are like a band of criminals without clear leadership, direction or structure. All of the 12 “security threat groups,” or STGs as they are termed by prison officials, fit the classic view of prison gangs: organized, conspiratorial and violent. Most of these gangs were active in prison and on the street. Over 50 different gangs were represented in our study. Fifty-two prisoners were murdered in a 21-month period that became known as the “ war years.” 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. with the rise of mass incarceration in the 1980s. Gang and nongang prisoners told us, “I’d rather talk to you than sit in my cell.” They saw the interview as cathartic they were able to “get things off their chest” to a neutral party. About half of the people we interviewed were affiliated with gangs. When the topic is gangs, these issues are even bigger. Even if researchers get inside, there’s the possibility that prisoners will not participate in interviews. Prison officials tend to be risk-averse and loathe to let outsiders inside the walls. Getting in, getting outĭespite fairly extensive research on street gangs, there is little research on gangs in prison.Ĭonducting research in prisons is rare because it is hard to gain access. Gangs wield power behind bars, but they are more fractured and have less control than people believe. Attorney Reid Manning prosecuted the case.Our new book pulls back the curtain on how gangs compete for control and structure prison life. Marshals Service, Nueces County District Attorney’s Criminal Interdiction Unit, Texas Department of Public Safety and Corpus Christi Police Department. Assistant U.S. Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. Reyna was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. During the course of the conspiracy, authorities seized over $250,000. ![]() He helped protect or transport cocaine or currency with others. ![]() In July 2020, Reyna was involved in a conspiracy with others to possess with intent to distribute nearly 20 kilograms of cocaine. In imposing the sentence, Judge Ramos noted Reyna's previous violent criminal conduct. At the hearing, the court heard additional statements that described Reyna's role during the cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and membership in the dangerous Texas Syndicate gang. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced him to serve a 121-month sentence to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 39-year-old Robstown gang member and convicted felon has been ordered to federal prison for conspiring to traffic 17 kilograms of cocaine, announced Acting U.S.
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