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Slain
woman was wife of gang leader
Nuestra Familia internal conflict possible motive
Monterey
County Herald | February 8, 2005
Copyright 2005 Monterey County Herald. All Rights Reserved. Posted with
permission.
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 Healey Mortuary
Chapel in Salinas.
Julia Reynolds can be reached at 648-1187 or jreynolds@montereyherald.com.
George B. Sanchez can be reached at 753-6771 or gesanchez@montereyherald.com
.
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