Opinion ID: 783826
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendants' Membership in the Netas

Text: 4 The Defendants and Santiago were members of the Netas, a gang that originated in the prison system in Puerto Rico. The Netas is largely made up of ex-convicts and members of the prison population throughout New York and New Jersey. The organization consists of various chapters, some of which allegedly are engaged in many acts of community service, notably helping senior citizens and the homeless, cleaning up parks, and assisting charities. In addition, the Netas claim to help ex-convicts live positive, crime-free lives and to ensure the fair treatment of prisoners. 5 In furtherance of its goals, the Netas maintains a complex, hierarchical structure and system of governance with strict rules of behavior that are brutally enforced. The Netas allegedly forbids its members from participating in any criminal activities, including the sale and use of narcotics, notwithstanding the fact that individual members do not always adhere to these rules. The Netas has developed its own justice system to enforce its behavioral rules. When a member is alleged to have violated one of these rules, a trial of sorts is held. Members who have been convicted of the crimes with which they were charged have been sentenced to verbal reprimands, loss of rank, physical assaults, and sometimes death. 6 Since July 1994, Pimentel has been the Madrina or godmother of the New York Netas. As the Madrina, she is responsible for coordinating efforts to communicate with prison officials regarding the treatment of inmates, to protest prison conditions, and to make sure that inmates receive appropriate medical care. Viruet was the president of the Jamaica chapter of the Netas and one of Pimentel's lieutenants. When Pimentel became the Madrina, the Netas members in Brooklyn, New York were divided among loosely organized chapters that were governed by Santiago, a president of one of those chapters. During 1994, at the direction of imprisoned members of the Netas leadership, Pimentel and Manuel Garcia (another Netas member) allegedly worked together in an attempt to coordinate and pacify the Netas chapters in Brooklyn, as well as to eliminate the sale and use of narcotics by those chapters. In the Fall of 1994, Pimentel established a committee called the Junta Central to govern the various Netas chapters in New York City. Santiago was not invited to join this committee.