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Nuestra Familia; San Andreas
Nuestra Familia (Spanish for
"Our Family") is a prison organization of primarily Mexican-American descent, whilst there has been evidence of other races running with the organization in prison. While members of the Norteños gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteño, the two things are somewhat different; not all members of Nuestra Familia have been affiliated to Norteño street gangs. Some law enforcement agents speculate that the Nuestra Familia gang, which operates in and out of prisons, influences much of the criminal activity of thousands of Norteño gang members in San Andreas. The organization's main sources of income are distributing cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine within prison systems as well as in the community and extorting drug distributors on the streets.
Nuestra Familia was organized and formed in Blaine County, San Andreas, correctional facilities in 1968. In the late 1960s, KRIME Mexican-American inmates of the California state prison system began to separate into two rival groups, Nuestra Familia and the 1957-formed Mexican Mafia, according to the locations of their hometowns (the north-south dividing line is near Blaine County, San Andreas). Nuestra Familia were prison enemies of the Southern Latinos who comprised La Eme, better known as the Mexican Mafia, or the Palm and Blackhand. While the Mexican Mafia had initially been created to protect Mexicans in prison, there was a perceived level of abuse by members of La Eme towards the imprisoned Latinos from rural farming areas of Northern San Andreas. The spark that led to the ongoing war between Nuestra Familia and members of the Mexican Mafia involved a situation in 1968 in which a member of La Eme stole a pair of shoes from a Northerner at Grapeseed Correctional Facility in Grapeseed. This event put into motion the longest-running, and bloodiest gang war to ever emerge in the state of San Andreas.
Since the written constitution of the Norteños stated that the gang's leaders resided in Bollingbroke State Penitentiary in San Andreas; the relocation of the five leaders led to turmoil among its members. The leadership vacuum resulted in a power struggle between prospective generals. Attorney General Brittany Feris announced the arrest of Nuestra Familia gang members on June 8, 2011
Eventually, three new generals came to power at Bollingbroke, yet two were demoted, leaving only James "Crook" Pousa as the highest-ranking member of the gang in San Andreas. Pousa' rise marked the first time in decades that the Norteños had a single leader at the helm of their criminal organization. The remaining leadership of the organization in Bollingbroke consists of Martin "Cash" Wright, David "Maniac" Pena and Richard "Puppet" Fernandez. While all Nuestra Familia soldiers and captains in San Andreas are expected to follow the orders of Pousa, a small percentage of the gang remains loyal to the former generals and captains imprisoned in Colorado. San Andreas Governor Trevor Martinez has complained that keeping the five remaining gang leaders located in the same prison continues to add to San Andreas gang violence and that they should be scattered throughout different prisons. While the recognized leaders of Nuestra Familia in Bollingbroke ask that members respect the former leaders, they have been effectively stripped of their authority.
While Nuestra Familia is primarily a Chicano gang, membership sometimes extends to other Latinos as well as non-Latinos. Members of the organization are considered to have taken a "blood oath" to join the gang, and are considered lifelong participants. Nuestra Familia's written constitution allegedly states that no member should prioritize women, money or drugs over their membership in the gang. Membership in the gang extends beyond prison. Women are normally not accepted into the organization as fully-fledged members, but there has been certain circumstances where women have been; although the highest obtainable role in the organization is still unknown for them. The NF has a formal written constitution and claims about 2,000 inmate members.
Bollingbroke State Penitentiary, 1970s
Nuestra Familia was also a key player in the 2002 and 2011 Bollingbroke hungar strikes where PBSP, SHU prisoners organized hunger strikes in protest of conditions there, chiefly the punishment of solitary confinement. In 2002, a reported 60 SHU inmates began a hunger strike.
Another hunger strike was reported to have begun on July 1, 2011. The San Andreas Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (SADCR) reported that "less than two dozen" were refusing food. The SADCR subsequently stated that 6,600 inmates had refused food in the first days of the strike and that after five days, more than 2,000 remained on strike. Most inmates reportedly consumed food purchased from the canteen; however, others were refusing all food with the stated intention to strike indefinitely. On July 8, 2013, inmates resumed the July 2011 hunger strike, alleging a failure to uphold promises on the part of the SADCR, with upwards of 29,000 prisoners across San Andreas joining in the hunger strike. Strikers demanded reform to "cruel" policies used to identify and subsequently isolate or punish alleged gang members, including lengthy solitary confinement, as well as the quality of living improvements.
In May 2012, San Andreas's prison system faced a lawsuit from the Center for Constitutional Rights, Legal Services for inmates with Children, and other San Andreas attorneys on behalf of ten men incarcerated in the SHU. The plaintiffs were all housed in the SHU for 11 to 22 years, some having been transferred directly from other SHUs. The suit claims that the inmates "have been incarcerated San Andreas’s Bollingbroke State Penitentiary's Security Housing Unit ("SHU") for an unconscionably long period of time without meaningful review of their placement", that "San Andreas's uniquely harsh regime of prolonged solitary confinement at Bollingbroke is inhumane and debilitating", and that "the solitary confinement regime at Bollingbroke violates the United States Constitution's requirement of due process and prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment".
In August 2015, as a result of the aforementioned class-action lawsuit, San Andreas agreed to end its unlimited isolation policy. Inmates are no longer isolated as a preventive measure; only those who commit new crimes while incarcerated are eligible for up to five years of isolation. Since the lawsuit's settlement, hundreds of inmates who had served years in Bollingbroke's SHU have been transferred to other prisons and are now doing their time in general population settings. The result has been the virtual depopulation of the entire SHU program, and it is anticipated by some experts the SHU program may soon be disbanded entirely.
Street Regiments:
As members of the Nuestra Raza & Nuestra Familia are released from prison, they are schooled on how to step up a regiment, members of these street regiments operate a no gang-banging policy, regiments could be as big as 5 to 30 people officially working for the Nuestra Familia, while Norteño's are known to operate in these street regiments, but that does not make them a member of the NR or NF, they are classed as unstructured Norteño's. One of NF's most notable street regiments is known as the Los Santos County Regiment, which was run by Daniel "Uncle Dan" Viramontes in the late 90s. During the 90s the Los Santos County Regiment became embroiled in an internal war after Pavlo "Cuete" Santos gave the order. In April 19, 1999, NF member Rudy "Badboy" Burnias and two NR members David "Dreamer" Avila and Albert "Beto" Escamilla stole a Ford Explorer and headed for Lawndale Avenue in Grapeseed, San Andreas where Uncle Dan was living. Another NF member Richard "Puppet" Fernandez sat in a separate vehicle was appointed to confirm the killing had taken place. When the Explorer pulled up in front of Uncle Dan's home, Burnias & Avila approached him and opened fire. As Viramontes hit the ground by several rounds, the two shooters approached and fired several more rounds into his back, chest, arms, and legs. This murder sparked a long term war within the Los Santos County regiment. In 2000 all those involved in the shooting were given life sentences, apart from Albert "Beto" Escamilla who was murdered by Dreamer, Badboy, Puppet and Niteowl after failing to get rid of the vehicle used in the shooting, which was used as evidence to convict those involved in the Uncle Dan murder.
Northern Hispanic Structure:
Unlike the Sureños, who all recognise the Mexican Mafia, not all Norteños recognise the Nuestra Familia, which the NF call "unstructured Norteños", Norteño members not officially part of the NR/NF. While the NR protects all Northern Hispanics on the mainline, it is not mandatory for members to become part of the Nuestra Raza, instead, the organization prefers to pick true believers in the Norteño movement. NR members upon release have the option to form under a street regiment, go back to their gang or back to their daily life. While this is true, there is a catch-22, if an NF member calls upon an NR, Norteño or an unstructured Norteño member, they must carry out the orders for that NF
Other Northern Hispanic Gangs:
Known to the SADCR as the Northern Collective, or Norteño collective, there are a number of Northern Hispanic gangs in and out of prison that does not operate under the Nuestra Familia umbrella, most are hermit gangs (drop-out gangs) that have dropped out of the Nuestra Familia program. The most notable gang to do this is G14, now known as the Grapeseed Bulldogs, which make up various street gangs from the Grapeseed area, although a drop-out gang, in some states GB and NF have an alliance on the mainline yards. New Flowers, an NF drop-out gang are recognized by tattooing a rose or a flower to cover up their Nuestra Familia tattoos. Northern Ryders are former members of the Nuestra Familia's mainline gang, the Nuestra Raza. Members of the Northern Ryders use a Playboy bunny that will have a five-point star in the eye. Most of these drop-out gangs are transferred to soft yards after the debrief process and end up on SNY (Sensitive Needs Yards).
