The first defendant to be sentenced in the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) case charging 14 members of the violent 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, was sentenced in federal court in Dallas.
Roy Arredondo, Jr., a/k/a "West," 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to life in prison, without parole.
Arredondo, was the sillon, or chairman of the Dallas TS from 2003 until his arrest in April 2005, although there are some reports that he was the chairman as early as 2001.
Arredondo, who pled guilty in March to conspiracy to conduct the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, has TS-related tattoos, including the overlaid letters "T" and "S" on his chest, and had a major role in several violent crimes committed by the Dallas TS, including the murders of Ernesto “Neto” Glavan, Peter Paul Pecina, Miguel "Big Mike" Elizondo, Mitchell "Cisco" Lozano, and Juan Silva Barrera, and the attempted murder of Ruben Rocha.
Arredondo also admitted that he was responsible for trafficking drugs including approximately 270 kilograms of cocaine.
Members of the TS 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 TS rules 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 TS .
Members and associates of the TS 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 TS rules regardless of whether it was done knowingly or unknowingly.
The remaining 13 defendants have pled guilty; all but two have pled guilty to the RICO statute. All will be sentenced within the next two months.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.
He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us.
