Texas Syndicate

Organized Crime: The Texas Syndicate

Cassandra Kennedy

Kaplan University

CJ350: Organized Crime

Professor Mark Rosenfield

November 4, 2013

Organized crime has been a prominent force in the United States dating back to as early as the Prohibition Era. These groups are typically involved in illegal activities and participate in violence. This essay will explore one of Texas’ more prominent prison based gangs, the illegal activities that they are involved in, and how they are structured. It will also explore some reasons as to why this gang is a threat to not only the prison system, but to society as well.

The Texas Syndicate was established in 1970 by Juan “Pajaro” Solis-Vela and Francisco “Panchito” Gonzales in a California prison, and was formed for the purposes of protection for Texas inmates in the California system that were being preyed on by gangs in California prisons. Their membership is comprised of around 14,000 members and their stronghold spans across most of Texas, in cities such as Houston, Dallas and Austin. Members of this gang can be identified by tattoos with designs that contain the letters “TS”, and are “generally located on the back of the right forearm, but they have also been found on the outside calf areas, neck and chest”(http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/prison2.html).

Participation in illegal activities is what normally defines an organized crime group. Some of the illegal activities that The Texas Syndicate are involved with include extortion, assault, drug trafficking, prostitution and murder, and even though they are Texas prison based gang, “their criminal activities extend beyond prisons and across the international border with Mexico”(http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/commit/c640/wtpdf/1108-SigifredoGonzalez-2.pdf). This causes a significant impact not only on the cities in which the gang operates, but the state as well, especially with the trafficking of narcotics and the fact that their influence spreads into...