American Gangster Bg Audio

[Annemie]

DesireeCooper: So Rene, when you recorded that, you'd already become a government source. You'd made it out of "The Shoe," which is solitary confinement, and you sounded so happy in that less restrictive environment. Yet we find out later that you were actually high during that interview. Why?

Rene Enriquez: You know, I think it was a facade, really. I was regretting my decisions for having left, and I was at a place where I felt I was lost and abandoned. I go from this individual with this great amount of respect and awesome amount of power to just becoming a regular Joe -- and I had never been a regular Joe all my life. Naturally, without cognitive and behavioral therapy, I regressed right to what I knew again, which was associating with individuals in the same sub-culture and participation in narcotics use and dealing drugs. That's what I knew best.

Michael, I'd imagine your position as a documentarian -- it was not unlike law enforcement in that, here's Rene, giving you information that you have to trust. How do you learn to trust what he says over time?

Michael Montgomery: I did not actually know that Rene was high during that interview for some time. And I think that's a good thing, because had I known that day or the day after that he was high, and that he was using drugs and really getting caught up in this group of gang drop-outs dealing drugs, I think I would have walked away from the project. But it didn't happen that way. And in fact, the very act of Rene revealing this to me showed to me that he was moving out of that mafioso, tough guy, 'no weaknesses' mentality. Actually, I think that that was a very, very critical moment in our work together. The other question was where he was heading. Was he going to continue to evolve and go in a positive direction, or was he going to have another relapse. And I think that was a concern. My concern, and also a concern for law enforcement.

Enriquez: I no longer have to worry about so-called brothers plotting my death or me plotting theirs. That's simplistic freedom. I guess physically, I'm no longer in "The Shoe." I'm still incarcerated, I'll probably remain incarcerated, although I'm eligible for parole.

Enriquez: My day's devoted towards different things. I read my Bible every day -- I'm not trying to hoodwink anybody to say I'm this reformed person or I'm a rehabilitated individual. I'm not far removed from the individual I used to be. There are no swans in the system. The only difference between me and those other individuals is that I've chosen to extricate myself while they continue to wallow in it. So, I'm really learning how to be a man again.

Enriquez: You know, there are a variety of individuals. My handlers... Mike Montgomery has played a large part in it, and he's invested his trust in me. This recording became cathartic to me, therapeutic.

Enriquez: Oh, definitely. When you listen to the first audio diaries, I would not even speak in an emotional manner. It was just really mechanical. But Mike sat me down one day and told me, 'Rene, this is a chance for you to speak to yourself and speak to the world and teach them about really who you are and what this life is, and something about the subculture that this world doesn't know about.' So he made this really a self-revelatory thing -- and that's a self-educational, epiphanous occurrence for me. My wife has a large part to do with it. Each step along the way, she teaches me when I go astray.

Enriquez: Yes, my wife. I'm married. I won't say her name -- I don't want to disclose her name for security purposes. One time, when I was talking about past victims and my wife becomes irate and she says 'How dare you speak about that individual that way? That was somebody's father, that was somebody's son that was somebody's uncle. You affected a lot of people other than that one person that got killed.' She says, 'How would you like it if somebody killed your son, Rene? How would you feel?' It was at that moment I got a lump in my throat. It was if somebody had hurt one of my children, that's how I would feel.

Enriquez: You have to become a hardened individual in the business. Violence is our status mobility system. It's a brutal world. Prison is a brutal world. It's a place where there is no place for weakness, for emotion, for consideration, for empathy.

Montgomery: I think that the tape that Rene slowly starts compiling, these audio diaries, really reveal a multi-dimensional man -- a multi-dimensional man who was always there, but was really stuck in this dark, solitary world of gang secrets and of violence. One of the things I recall a prison official saying who had known Rene, is saying that he had never seen Rene smile, ever, until he finally dropped out of the mob and started cooperating with authorities.

Enriquez: You know, there's so much that tips the scales against me. There's so much negative that I've done in my life. Here's something positive that I could do for society. Here's something that I could do for the people who have put so much faith and trust in me, and it is an educational process for me. It was just something that I could do that would be viewed as a successful, pro-social contribution that I've made to society. Here's something that I can do to give back. There's very little -- I can't give lives back, I can't redeem what I've done.

Enriquez: You're right to be reserved in your judgment, and even condemn me in some senses. There is going to be a large group of people who will never believe what I say, and that's OK. I'm not doing it for anybody's benefit but my own. Ultimately, if I serve a life sentence that I agreed upon, then that's what I merit because those people did die. So if you never agree upon accepting me as a member of society, or a board or a judge or a district attorney doesn't, then that's fine. Ultimately, I have aspirations of being free one day, and I hope that comes to pass.

Montgomery: It's difficult for me to give an answer without hearing from what law enforcement say and what others say about whether or not Rene poses a danger to society. Given what I've seen with Rene, he certainly deserves a shot at parole. The critical factor is whether or not he still poses a danger to society. Rene says he doesn't. I think in his current situation he isn't a dangerous individual. It's difficult to say if he's in society, where he hasn't been in a long, long time, how he will respond to getting work that maybe doesn't challenge or stimulate him. But if I were on the parole board, I would want to look very, very closely at what the people, law enforcement agents and investigators close to Rene say. And if you talk to those people, quite a few of them say that they believe one day, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year, but in a few years from now, if he stays on this current course that he should be released and allowed to go back into society.

Conviction is the presence of a superior reasoning power. A hope thet something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. We all at one point in our lives come to an understanding of reaching our completeness through the process of our own development. It is essentally a result, that only at the end, is it, WHAT IT IS, in very truth. The word of God defines our strength as our weakness. "God's grace is sufficient for thee" 2cor.12:9

There is no doubt in my mind that Rene Enriquez deserves a chance at freedo. As mentioned in a comment above, can you imagine how productive he could be to society with such a tremendous mind like his? If you read this comment Rene, I believe in you and pray to God that he gives you a chance at freedom so that you can accomplish your goals.

I read The Blackhand just few days ago. I beleive Rene is being truthful and helpful in regards to the eMe. I think he should have a chance at freedom. If given an opportunity I am sure he will conclude his life I a positive manner.

Conviction seems to be a luxury to those

that stand on the side lines. The world we live in is no different than the one temporarily survived by Rene. There are the predators and the prey. The true

strength or weakness of Rene will manifest itself in time....in or out.

Howdy folks. I read the book "The Black Hand" by Chris Blanchford and have listened to a vsriety of interviews conducted with Rene "Boxer" Enriquez. I realize that some people may feel that Boxer Enriquez was convicted of two murders and should be in prison for the rest of his life. Others may feel that he is only working with law enforcment in an effort get him a date from the parole board. I see the sides of both aurguments. However, what I firmly believe in is a thing called repentance. What people need to realize is that Boxer Enriquez has been maid no promises in regards to parole. Desspite all his work with law enforcment, there is still the possibility he may never get out of prison. I just think that is something people should take into consideration when they attempt to judge this man.

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