Opinion ID: 6970661
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Leader of the Latin Kings '

Text: In 1986 Luis Felipe, a/k/a “King Blood,” founded and became the self-appointed leader of the New York State Chapter of the Latin Kings, an organization which, according to defendant, was designed to “promote a sense of Hispanic identity among prison inmates” and to organize Caribbean Hispanies serving jail sentences. The aim of the organization was ostensibly to protect Hispanies from ethnic discrimination at the hands of other inmate organizations and hostile prison authorities. Subsequently, a civilian component was formed under Felipe’s leadership, often consisting of former inmates. The government describes the Latin Kings in-less benign terms as a racketeering enterprise whose members and associates engage in acts of violence, armed robbery, narcotics trafficking, and murder. The Latin King’s have a sister organization for women called the Latin Queens, and the two groups together are known as the “Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation.” At all times, Felipe participated in the Latin Kings’ activities from his jail cell, first at the Collins Correctional Facility in Hel-muth, New York — where he was serving a nine-year sentence for second degree manslaughter arising from the death of a woman in 1981 — and later, after May 1993, at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, to which he had been transferred. His leadership of the organization was maintained by corresponding with, receiving visits from, and sending “written directives” to various members. In early April 1993 while Felipe was incarcerated at Collins, New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOC) officials learned that he had violated prison regulations by attempting to “kite,” ie.,- send through a third party, letters to an inmate at another facility with whom he was not authorized to correspond. From the letters, officials learned that Felipe was the leader of the Latin Kings — an organization they deemed an unauthorized prison gang — and, as such, was actively recruiting more members into the organization. From the correspondence, authorities also became aware of the fact that the Latin Kings were planning illegal acts. For example, one letter promised to send an inmate a Latin Kings manifesto through his mother, and further stated that an unidentified person whom Felipe believed had betrayed the Latin Kings “deserve[d] to die.” Later that month, Felipe did try to send a copy of the manifesto to an inmate, which DOC officials intercepted. As a result of these violations of prison regulations, Felipe was transferred from Collins to Attica, a maximum security prison. ■In addition, as a result of his activities and the DOC’s knowledge that he was the leader of the Latin Kings, he was adjudged a prison security threat. The Department thereafter requested a “mail watch” on him pursuant to New York State’s regulations governing correspondence by inmates incarcerated in state correctional facilities. Those regulations allow a prison superintendent to authorize the inspection of outgoing and incoming mail if there is reason, to believe that the correspondence threatens the 'safety of any person or the good order of the facility. See Inmate Correspondence Program, DOC Directive No. 4422 (1993). Authorization for the mail watch was renewed every 60 days while Felipe was incarcerated at Attica.