Monteray: Slain woman was wife of gang leader
stewart...@netzero.com
Slain woman was wife of gang leader
Nuestra Familia internal conflict possible motive
By JULIA REYNOLDS and GEORGE B. SANCHEZ
Herald Staff Writers
A 20-year-old Salinas woman found shot to death on a remote road near
Gilroy on Monday was the wife of a top "general" of the Nuestra Familia
prison gang, The Monterey County Herald learned Friday.
Crystal Ann Morado, whose maiden name was Nenque, married the notorious
gang leader James "Tibbs" Morado, 57, sometime in the past year and a
half while he awaited federal trial on criminal racketeering charges in
a special Alameda County Jail facility.
Investigators said the killing could signal a larger power struggle
within the gang after it was shaken to its roots by the far-reaching
federal prosecution.
Crystal Morado's body was found in her vehicle Monday morning on Hecker
Pass Road in southern Santa Clara County. A commercial trucker
discovered Morado's body with blood on it, slumped over the steering
wheel of her car, when he stopped to check her vehicle. He had noticed
it hadn't moved in the hour since he first passed it going the other
way. The lights were on and the engine was running.
James Morado is an admitted member of the gang's "Mesa," or governing
board of several generals, and some law enforcement officials believe
he was the ringleader of the Mesa before he was indicted in 2001 in
what has been called the U.S. Justice Department's longest and
costliest gang prosecution.
All of the defendants in that case eventually pleaded guilty, and in
September, Morado, along with fellow Nuestra Familia leaders Gerald
Rubalcaba, Cornelio Tristan, Tex Hernandez and Joseph Hernandez, agreed
to life in federal custody. All were serving life sentences in
California prisons for earlier crimes. Once Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
grants clemency, their federal sentencing can take place.
Morado has been serving a life sentence in state prison since 1977 for
murder and robbery. He became a leader of the powerful Nuestra Familia
gang, which ran its operations out of the maximum security section of
Pelican Bay Prison. Law enforcement officials estimate that the gang is
responsible for more than 600 murders in California since it formed in
the state's prisons in the 1960s.
Crystal Morado had had recent scrapes with the law in Salinas. In
September, she was sentenced to 25 days in jail and placed on three
years' probation for a July hit-and-run conviction. In late November,
she was charged with misdemeanor theft and failed to appear at a Dec. 9
court date. Judge José Velásquez issued a bench warrant for her
arrest.
Sgt. Dean Baker of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said
investigators still don't know how or exactly when Crystal married
James Morado. Records at the Alameda County Jail, where Morado is being
held in a special maximum-security cell with other Nuestra Familia
leaders while they await federal sentencing, show Crystal Morado listed
as a visitor.
"She was also visiting a young man in Monterey County Jail in recent
months," Baker said.
A source close to the family said the marriage took place in the past
18 months and that some family members were worried about Crystal
Morado's involvement with "the wrong crowd."
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's office is in charge of the murder
investigation, and Baker said his investigators have spoken with police
in Salinas, Santa Cruz and Watsonville, as well as with the FBI.
Sheriff's investigators have been following leads.
"We have gotten maybe three to four hours' sleep a night since Monday,"
Baker said.
Investigators are considering four possible motives for the case,
including a random carjacking attempt, a jealous boyfriend, a rival
gang attack or internal strife within the Nuestra Familia. The intense
level of attention to the case may indicate concerns over the dangerous
implications of the latter motive.
"There might be a power struggle going on," Baker said. "At this point,
everybody in (Morado's) organization is a suspect."
Internal struggle|
The Nuestra Familia organization has been undergoing an internal
struggle at its top level since the federal case began.
A gang investigator in the California Department of Corrections said
that before the Mesa members were indicted in 2001, they appointed a
temporary group of leaders to run the gang's operations out of Pelican
Bay in anticipation of the federal case.
The investigator said that prison investigators intercepted
communications from the Mesa proposing that the Pelican Bay group
continue to run California operations while the Mesa would expand
operations into the federal prison system.
That proposal was not accepted by the Pelican Bay group, the
investigator said, which is now at odds with the Mesa over who has
ultimate control of the gang.
The defendants' upcoming sentencing has taken longer than expected
because of "technicalities," according to a U.S. Attorney's office
spokesman.
The multi-agency, multimillion-dollar prosecution started in 2000 with
the indictment of Salinas Nuestra Familia members Hector Gallegos,
Caesar Ramírez, Rico García and others by U.S. Attorney Robert
Mueller, now director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The case resulted from Operation Black Widow, a controversial
investigation that began in 1997 and aimed to break the leadership of
the Nuestra Familia, the notorious prison gang with extensive
operations in Salinas.
By 2001, Morado and 21 other members and associates of the Nuestra
Familia were indicted on more than 30 charges, including murder,
racketeering, assault, drug trafficking and conspiracy. It was the last
major investigation led by Mueller before he was picked to head the
FBI.
The FBI was the lead investigative agency in the operation that
involved nearly 30 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies,
including the Monterey County District Attorney's Office and Salinas
police. Seventy-five people have been prosecuted as part of Operation
Black Widow and spin-off state and federal prosecutions, according to
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Gruel in San Francisco.
A woman who identified herself as a close friend of Crystal Morado, and
who asked not to be identified, said she was shocked to hear about
Crystal's death. The family friend, who knew Crystal as a child, said
the young girl was not known to be affiliated with any gang and that
she came from a very supportive, hard-working Salinas family.
Crystal Morado attended the New Life Church of the Nazarene in Salinas
in recent years. The Rev. Tim King said the church will take up a
collection at its 10:30 a.m. Sunday service to help offset funeral
costs.
Services for Crystal Morado are planned for 10 a.m. Monday at Healy
Mortuary Chapel in Salinas.
Julia Reynolds can be reached at 648-1187 or
jrey...@montereyherald.com.
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George B. Sanchez can be reached at 646-4346 or
gesa...@montereyherald.com.
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© 2005 Monterey County Herald and wire service sources. All Rights
Reserved.
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