United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

DOJ’S ANTI-GANG INITIATIVE LEADS TO RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY INDICTMENT
OF 14 MEMBERS OR ASSOCIATES OF TEXAS SYNDICATE PRISON GANG

All Face Life In Prison, Without Parole

DALLAS - A federal indictment was unsealed on Friday that charges 14 members of the Texas Syndicate prison gang with conspiring to participate in a violent enterprise responsible for murders, attempted murders, conspiracies to commit murder, robbery, drug trafficking, and other crimes in North Texas and other areas, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “This case is an excellent example of the collaborative efforts of the federal government and local law enforcement working together to aggressively deal with drug, gun and violent gang activity here in North Texas. When violent criminals band together to run their criminal organization like a business, this office will use every statute at its disposal to defeat the objective of the criminal enterprise.”

Michael Golson, Sr, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Dallas, said, “This was a cooperative effort to combat armed narcotics traffickers and to make the streets of North Texas safer.”

“The partnership between the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, local law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has brought about these criminal charges. The FBI is committed to the disruption and dismantlement of these organized violent gangs through our continued multi-agency Task Force concept, said Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Dallas FBI. “

Lt. Santos Cadena, Commander of the Dallas Police Department Gang Unit said, “The Dallas Police Department Gang Unit is firmly committed to working with our federal counterparts to aggressively pursue the prosecution of violent gang members, such as those named in today’s indictments. The Dallas Police Department and our federal partners realize that by combining our areas of expertise and resources, we are able to achieve a greater level of efficacy in combating violent gangs in Dallas. Our past efforts have been very productive and
we look forward to future successes in making Dallas a safer city for all its residents.”

 The three-count indictment charges the 14 defendants listed below, all of whom are either in state or federal custody, with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute. If convicted, all face a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison:

∙ Roy Arredondo, Jr., a.k.a. West, age 33
∙ Juan Antonio Vasquez, a.k.a. Juanillo, age 36
∙ Hector Manuel Ayala, a.k.a. Hec; a.k.a. Homicide, age 34
∙ Marco Medina, a.k.a. Pantera, age 35
∙ Javier Soliz, a.k.a Payaso, 37
∙ David Gutierrez, age 30
∙ Walter Lopez, a.k.a. Big Homie, age 34
∙ Sixto Salinas, age 34
∙ Primitivo Ybarra, a.k.a. Munch, age 29
∙ Daniel Arredondo, a.k.a. Weasel, age 43
∙ Arnulfo Rodriguez, a.k.a. Isaac Rodriguez; a.k.a. Gangster, age 36
∙ Emilio Noyola, a.k.a. Mili, age 27
∙ Daniel Garcia, a.k.a. D, age 27
∙ Edwin Barron, a.k.a. Beaver, age 37

Several of the above-listed defendants were convicted in the Northern District of Texas in a large-scale drug distribution conspiracy case, U.S. v. Roy Arredondo, et al., 3:05CR075, and are presently serving federal prison sentences ranging from 15 years to life in prison. Four defendants, Marco Medina, David Gutierrez, Emilio Noyola and Sixto Salinas were arrested last week.

The indictment alleges that the defendants are members, or associates, of the Texas Syndicate prison gang, a violent prison gang established during the 1970's as a response by native Texas inmates to other prison gangs. The Texas Syndicate is a dominant prison gang in Texas. Members of the Texas Syndicate are bound by a set of strict rules which ensure loyalty and participation in the enterprise’s criminal activities and are subject to strict and harsh discipline, including death, for violating the rules. The rules require that a member continue his participation in the organization even after his release from prison. Membership is for life.

Although the rules of the Texas Syndicate exclude “shady” or “devious” characters, members who commit murders, aggravated assaults, robberies, or traffic in illegal drugs are not classified as being of bad character. Instead, this category is interpreted more narrowly to exclude child molesters and those who fail to follow the rules of the Texas Syndicate.

Members and associates of the Texas Syndicate committed crimes to achieve the enterprise’s economic goal of making money as well as to enforce the rules of the organization. Victims of the violent crimes were often those who transgressed Texas Syndicate rules regardless of whether it was done knowingly or unknowingly.

 The indictment alleges that the conspiracy began in the mid-1990's and continued up to the date of this indictment. Each defendant agreed that a conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering activity. The indictment alleges that between October 1999 and September 2004, the defendants committed 12 murders and several attempted murders — two in the Rio Grand Valley and the others in the Dallas area.

The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex was one of 10 target areas in the U.S. chosen to receive $2.5 million in grant funds for a comprehensive anti-gang initiative to devote extensive resources to defeating some of the most violent and pervasive gangs in the country.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Dallas Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad Meacham and Jerri Sims.

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