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(tense upbeat music)
(hand brake creaking)
(tense upbeat music)
(door cracks open)
(door bangs)
(tense upbeat music)
(car engine running)
(door creaks)
(door bangs)
- What's up mijo?
What you got there?
Ahh Mexican Mafia encyclopedia,
that's a good book.
Ernest Roybal.
He looks familiar. (chuckling)
- You were a lot younger then.
- Yeah, we were some crazy vatos.
- I Learned more about you and your friends from this book,
than I did from you. (dog barking)
The church choir knows more about you than I do.
(dog barking)
- I did a lot of things I'm not proud of.
I spent 40 years of my life
in some of the toughest prisons in the United States,
for multiple murders and armed robberies.
But in the end I woke up.
- Tell me your story, dad.
- Los Angeles was a gang capital.
And I was young and dumb.
(eerie music)
(bright upbeat music)
♪ I've been looking ♪
♪ And looking for days at town ♪
♪ I've been looking ♪
♪ And looking for days at town ♪
- Ooh, hold him ese.
Hold that vato. (grunting)
(grunting) Hold it there vato, ese.
Hey holmes,this vato gave up our dope contact,
to the hootas?
- I didn't say anything.
I swear.
- Just tell us what you told them,
so we could do damage control.
- All I said, we dropped the shipment on 3rd St..
- Is that all you said?
- That's right, man.
- Orale, that's it?
D change the drop to the Rampart location.
(shackles clanking) (grunting)
I knew he'd crack under pressure.
(bright upbeat music)
♪ I'm at my house at the crack of dawn ♪
♪ Mind gone and mind blown ♪
♪ Lost the soul now nobody home ♪
♪ Spirit calm and that body gone ♪
♪ Feel that close, yeah that ain't bone ♪
♪ Feel it close, close on the ground ♪
♪ Man it's cold here where we from ♪
♪ Foster all here when they yawn ♪
♪ I've been looking ♪
♪ And looking, for days at town ♪
♪ I'm the keys to heaven, no te vamos ♪
♪ No te vamos ♪
♪ I'm the keys to heaven, no te vamos ♪
♪ No te vamos ♪
♪ I'm the keys to heaven, no te vamos ♪
♪ No te vamos ♪
♪ I'm the keys to heaven, no te vamos ♪
♪ No te vamos ♪
♪ I've been looking ♪
♪ And looking for days, at town ♪♪
(plane engine roaring)
My father went off to fight in World War II
and my mom couldn't handle me.
So my abuelita, (guns firing)
she tried to take care of me. (arms blasting)
She would tie me up with a rope.
(plane engine roaring)
(car horn blaring)
- You can get out of the ropes.
Let's see you try to get out of these.
(chain clinking)
- What'd he do this time?
- He crashed the car.
Don't ask.
- But I couldn't blame her.
I was a terror.
I was fighting everybody in my path.
I was just causing destruction.
(tense upbeat music)
(footsteps pattering)
- Check this out, man, made this for you.
Anytime you're angry, lay your rage out on this.
Let's see what you got.
- My uncle made a punching bag for me
and it was a God send.
Stacked this thing into a bag,
and all my anger and energy, I just laid into it.
The bad part was I turned into a good fighter.
I became a teenager.
I didn't fear nobody and I just would take on anybody.
- We've got a winner here.
I heard he's a heartbreaker, loaded with talent.
But he will wind in prison,
like so many of our boys do.
Invest your time in someone else.
- What are you talking about?
He can become a champion and get the respect of the world.
- Hmph, not the respect of the world he's gonna want.
He is gonna want the respect of his neighborhood.
- I got recruited by the local gyms, to fight their fighters
and actually could have done pretty good
if I went down that road.
Maybe I was too busy in pharmaceuticals,
being a salesman.
(punching ball bouncing)
- Man, you got a real shot in the boxing world, Roy,
If you can just stay out of trouble.
- (pants) Hey, trouble fights me coach.
- Yeah, prison's gonna find you too,
You're gotta straighten up.
- (indistinct) We did it though.
- You did well,I liked the way you kept moving your head,
get your hands up, very good.
Very good.
- Thanks coach.
What's up, when's the next fight?
- Son, take your time.
- Ready now.
- I found family in
one of the oldest gangs in Los Angeles, White Fence.
And the founders called it that because,
we used to hang out in front of the Purisima Church,
and it was surrounded by a white fence.
even though we were involved in wholesome sports,
like boxing or baseball, we were still the hooligans.
And we'd really like to go to school dances
but not to dance with the girls,
it was to fight with the vatos.
Primera Flats and VNE.
- Drinking a little bit of alcohol and we dip the rag,
stuff that into the bottle,
and we light the rag when it's time.
Whoo, ooh. (chuckles)
Oh, yeah.
Y'all ready?
It's going down, guys.
Boom.
- We used to torch fellow gangsters,
that would come into our neighborhood
or anybody for that matter.
The neighborhood had a lot of twists and turns.
And it was easy to get lost in there.
And all the people who did get lost
used to throw Molotav cocktails at them.
We were bad kids.
We owned every square inch of the neighborhood.
Not even the cops went into White Fence territory.
Even though I used to get tuned up by L.A.'s finest,
"just doing their job."
- Hey this is White Fence territory.
Agarrarlo.
- One day, Mike Mulhern landed into the turf
and I beat him pretty good.
As we grew up hearing the nickname Big Mike,
He started getting a status.
Later on it became my Eme comrade.
- You're not Roy, ese,
You're Kilroy, dale!
- That's how you do it homie, just like that.
- I never told nobody about what happened.
He never did either, it was business.
- Orale?
- That's what's up homie, White Fence.
(gentle upbeat music)
So you know this term about being jumped in?
We didn't get jumped in, we already were who wee were.
We fought every day and we enjoyed it.
(grunting)
- Get up!
- Fellow prisoners came and went,
just like life on the outside.
But the ones that matter, my brothers,
EME members,
we shared a bond second to none,
to only God and man.
Together, we lived, loved and laughed.
With a union so strong,
it only took a handful of carnales,
to control the underworld of California.
(bright upbeat music)
We were celebrating a gangster's release,
smoking weed, drinking,
toasting his homecoming.
Of course it took a woman to get me,
to try heroin with her for the first time.
- I want you to try this with me.
- (chuckles) No.
I mean, that's not for me.
- Yes it is.
- I'm gonna play pro ball, so.
- Am I for you?
- Yes.
- Then this is for you.
- (sighs) I mean...
- Just once.
- Okay.
- Relax. (chuckles)
You dropped the goods.
- I'm not too relaxed huh? (chuckles)
- Gonna tie you up.
- Like that?
- Tighter.
- You ready? - Just be gentle.
- I will.
♪ Don't let me go ♪
♪ No, oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ You got my key, you got my heart ♪
♪ Don't let us ever be apart ♪
♪ Now that you know, mmmh ♪♪
It became a lifelong addiction.
It didn't take long to become,"A hope to die a dope fiend."
I was smoking and injecting the black gold any chance I got.
Got arrested a couple of times under the influence
and got locked up at Preston.
Hoping that I was straightened out.
- Ladies, today's Kilroy's last game.
He goes home on Tuesday.
I'll miss you son.
- We're ready to play.
- Us too.
- But you have three players.
- Yeah, we even brought an extra one,
just in case your team has to pop up.
- (chuckling) Yeah, right?
The dodgers were active in the community
because they were moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.
And they were building the new stadium.
On my last day in custody,
I pitched a shut out against one of the Dodger prospects.
That was the first time I really knew how good I was.
(wind blowing)
(leaves crackling)
- Mr. Johnson.
- Ma'am.
As I told you on the phone,
the Los Angeles Dodgers wanna sign Ernest,
to a major league contract.
We're building a stadium not far from here.
You'll be able to watch him play every day.
- Mr. Johnson, I could give you my permission,
but that won't matter.
He's back in jail.
Mira Senor.
You seem like a really nice man.
So I'm gonna be truthful with you
like I told the other scout.
I love him,
but he's been a problem since he was a toddler.
And he's gonna get somebody hurt
or get himself killed.
You need to just move on.
(sighs)
- It's such a shame.
Your grandson's arm was a gift from God.
- I was sent back to Preston where fate would intervene.
I was encourageable.
Pipped a guy in the head,
I was told I was too violent for that facility.
Knocking out lames was my claim to fame.
I was sent to The Chino Guidance Center (CIM),
where I met with Huero Buff Flores and Hondo Lechuga.
- Kilroy. Hondo.
- It was the start of my destiny.
Huero Buff and Hondo sought fellow inmates,
who shared the same idea and it began in DVI, in 1957.
Took a while to grow,
but in 1961, we had the core group of carnales.
And we was able to control the inmate population.
By 1965, we was an unstoppable force.
We formed an elite gang of highly violent individuals,
who commanded respect, answered to no one
and dealt with the consequences.
- Like I was saying that only the hardcore gangsters,
best of the best are allowed to join.
We call it the Mexican Mafia.
- Man, you been reading too many books ese.
(chuckling)
- No, see, we've been around.
We've got the respect, status, creature comforts,
time to take it to the next level.
- DVI, we recruited the most get-down gangsters out there.
There was no rules.
- Huero Buff, Hondo, Big D, Cheyenne
they created an reglas, a blood oath.
And the only way you could get out was in a box.
This gang was called,
I am La EME the Mexican Mafia.
Huero was a true visionary.
A lot of people, they didn't see the prophecy.
But he's unquestionably the godfather of La EME.
- We need reglas carnal.
So people know what the consequences are
of messing with La EME.
- All right lets hear em...
- The rule number one,
EME comes before family.
Rule number two,
never acknowledge the existence of La EME.
- Number three.
Never raise no politics against an EME carnal.
Four, every new member needs to come sponsored
by an existing member.
- And number five,
a unanimous vote is required for acceptance.
Six, death is the only way out.
Seven, never disrespect a fellow carnal.
Eight, never show fear or weakness,
nine.
A carnal must always, always carry out a mission or a hit,
regardless of the odds or dangers.
And number 10, if you sponsor a carnal that goes bad,
it's your responsibility to take them out.
EME reglas
- You've been my comarada for years now.
La EME wants you Kilroy,
but we're only gonna ask one time.
You in or what, ese?
- Tu Sabes.
You're going to Tracy,me San Quentin,I'll take it with me.
I'm in carnal.
(foreign language)
- To reach this level was a dream come true
for a violent soldier like me.
I already had the respect of my neighborhood,
but this was a whole new level.
An elite group that only accepts the best of the best.
True leaders, warriors, killers.
(sirens wailing)
It was an honor to be an original member.
(sirens wailing) (upbeat music)
(gun clocks)
Nobody move, put your money out, now.
Now.
Come on, let's go.
Don't move.
I got a lot of respect for you.
Don't do nothing you're gonna regret.
The gun.
Give me the badge.
Now, let's go.
You good?
Huh? - Yeah.
- Don't go try nothing, like, following us.
Not gonna end well.
(brakes screeching)
(horns blaring)
- Kilroy, long time.
Orale, Detective Brando (wood planks rattling)
Long time.
- What brings you to the varrio?
(footsteps pattering)
Hey, have a seat.
Long time. (seat rattling)
- What I do now?
Let me get right to it,
you took my friend's duty weapon.
He needs it back.
- I already pawned it.
- Well unpawn it.
The man, you disrespected is a friend of mine.
And if he suffers any embarrassment
it will reflect in my investigation.
Right now, you both have a chance to walk away
with your heads held high.
And it will all end.
We good?
- Yeah, we're good.
Don't want no trouble, just playing.
(upbeat music)
Tell him I say hi, huh.
- They probably have three to 400 members in prison
and you double that on the outside.
You have a long, violent, bloody history.
And the fact that
people are starting to turn up dead suddenly
could serve as a wake up call of the Mexican Mafia,
or LA EME is no myth,
but instead a cold blooded reality,
born prison to survive,
they thrive on the streets of LA, to kill.
Now we warn you,
there are some graphic scenes you might find objectionable.
- Everybody fears us, all the prison gangs,
they control the inside, all the criminal activity.
Anybody that shows weakness, is executed without exception.
(gate rattling)
- They are the gang of gangs.
Vicious, calculating, fearless, deadly.
They kill their enemies.
They kill their own if crossed.
To get in. you spill blood
and to leave the blood could be yours.
This is life in La EME, or the Mexican Mafia.
(car engine roaring)
- Take a little bit for ourselves,
take care of the Familia, huh?.
- That's the thing, leaving them behind it's not cool man.
- Yeah, I know it's not cool, but we're already in.
It's La EME the family is inside.
I mean, that's the commitment, man
That's what we said.
- Kilroy, you sure you wanna do this?
We get caught, we get washed up homie.
- The way I see it we get caught, we're going home.
- Let's roll.
(gun clocks)
(gun firing)
(handcuffs gritting)
(gun firing)
(handcuffs gritting)
(gun firing)
- Pastor Paul, can I help you?
- Yeah, I was looking for my abuelita.
- Kilroy, it's me, Sal.
Your dad's old friend.
We've been praying for you.
I know you have been up to no good in the neighborhood,
but let me show you something.
(percussions beating)
See these hands, these hands are made to worship the Lord.
Not to hurt anybody.
- Kilroy, God's got a plan for your life.
We're not promised tomorrow.
- I don't wanna hear a sermon fellas,
I just came to pick my abuelita.
- I get it.
The Bible says in the book of Romans,
chapter three, verse 23, that we're all sinners.
We've all fallen short of the glory of God.
We broke his commandments,
we needed a savior.
Jesus came 2000 years ago, died on the cross
and He rose again.
Resurrection power.
If you believe in Him with your heart,
you'll have eternal life with Him.
- Kilroy, Jesus loves you, man.
You know those aren't the pastors words.
That scripture.
- I gotta go.
(tense upbeat music)
Life seems slow on the inside, but in reality,
it goes as fast as it does on the outside.
Before we knew it, our youth had been swallowed by time.
It left us wondering if it was all worth it.
We stayed busy attempting to disguise our doubt
and not be perceived as weak.
Most of my days in prison
were filled of routine and laughter.
It seems strange I say laugher.
I could tell a joke with the best of them,
but it was with mi compadres,
Big D, Baby Bevito, Juan Green eyes
Pretty Bob, Sporty Gill and Champ Reynoso.
An inmate could almost feel normal at the time.
The only thing missing was a cold beer,
women gasping in the next room
and kids playing in the yard.
For now, this was the only family I had.
It was a fun and dangerous ride with my friends.
Some nicknames were given to us as children.
Some are requested by the individual,
and some just fit.
For pretty Bob, a highly respected brother,
there was really nothing else that fit.
No matter how we tried to look, he was still pretty.
The girls swooned when he looked their way,
like he was a Hollywood star.
Other apodos were simple, like,
Sleepy, Peanut Butter, Juan Green eyes and Champ Reynoso.
It's common to even not know the person's legal name.
(upbeat hiphop music)
Coming in to a prison,
there will always be a speech from the sergeant.
It was usually about respect.
I mean, let's face it, placing that many men together
without the expectation of respect,
would be a nightmare for everyone.
For us and the officers there was nothing personal,
just business.
(shackles jingling)
(footsteps pattering)
- My name is Sergeant Smith.
You have been assigned to my prison,
'cause you have been convicted of a crime.
It is my job, in this here prison, to enforce the rules.
And your job?
To follow them.
It is not my job, to display my personal feelings,
in regards to the nature of your crime.
You will be treated with respect.
But I expect each one of you to return that respect.
Good luck men.
(upbeat hiphop music)
- We did everything we could to stay busy.
Most inmates were on the same hamster wheel as the outside.
Go to work at the prison job and returned to the cell tired.
Go to sleep and return to work in the morning.
Mainline wasn't bad at all.
We could pretty much do whatever we wanted.
Listen to music and sports on the prison radio system,
play board games, read books.
Sometimes our program went fast and sometimes it went slow.
But the most important game we played
was the one in our own mind,
pushing through another tough life.
(exhaling loudly)
Come on, push.
One more, yeah.
Looking good and working out was and still is
and will always be important for La EME.
The high carb prison food,
could quickly
turn a lean individual into a sloth.
And that could man death.
(weight lift bangs)
- [Weightlifter] (yelling) Get off of me.
- They gave us weights to stay in shape
and release our aggression.
(weight lift bangs)
But they could also be weapons.
We took out one of our brothers on the wieght bench,
with State owned tools.
(gate clanking)
For a while, Charlie Manson, his cell was next to mine.
He played the crazy part for the public
but he wasn't like that with the inmates.
He used to sing with us all the time.
He used to sing Barry Manilow.
He used to sing Frank Sinatra
and he liked the Backstreet Boys a little bit.(lol)
(shank grinding)
Sometimes if you were still at night you would hear,
(shank grinding)
a blade being sharpened on the concrete.
And you would say to yourself, who's next?
Sometimes it was me that was sharpening the blade,
to maintain the fear of everyone around me.
- How many people have you killed?
- So, all you guys already agreed to hit Richie?
Put your comment to the table.
What is it?
- He was one of our downest carnales,
but he crossed the line.
It's time to send him home.
(background chattering)
- Where do you stand?
- I don't know about the rest of you, we have no choice.
Send him to Brazil.
- Where do you stand?
- Like a brother, known him for a lot of years,
but this is strictly business.
- Then, okay then.
Then we'll get Spider on it
and we'll handle it clean.
Orale? - Orale.
(inmates chattering)
- I've been involved in a lot of hits in and out of prison.
I put in a lot of work.
But it was better to get off on them first,
before they came back and hurt us.
I'm not proud of my past, but I did what I did.
And I don't think it's wise for you to know the details.
There's no statute of limitations on murder.
(upbeat country music)
Another way we stayed busy was during events back in prison
which was mostly reserved for the honor blocks.
Inmates with clean time and those who couldn't go,
at least, listened on the headphones in the cell.
It was popular for bands to visit the prison.
Most notably Johnny Cash.
Once in a while the circus made it's way
through the correction system,
even Billy Graham came through.
Little did I know these seeds would grow in me,
but more on that later.
We also had internal tournaments
such as handball, basketball, boxing.
It was a reason to stay in shape
and an opportunity for me
to participate in the sport I love, boxing.
Many of the brothers were trained boxers.
And a few of them would have had a shot at the big time,
had they chosen a different path.
(grunting) (wood rattling)
(feet shuffling) (grunting)
- Cheyenne?
I put a lot of work.
I earned my respect.
And I wanna be a carnal.
- It doesn't work that way ese, you don't ask us.
Talk to him, ese.
- You don't ask us, we ask you.
Be patient mijo, your time will come.
Joker couldn't wait for the EME call,
and quickly became a shot-caller for the Nuestra Familia.
In a few short years,
he would be representing our enemies from the North.
in getting a peace treaty made with his idol, Cheyenne.
(punching) (feet shuffling)
- You're too old for this Mandi.
You've been in there a minute, look at you,
already sweating, flapjacks.
(feet shuffling)
- Get in here youngster.
- A huevo, man, come on.
- Lemme teach you how it's done.
- You ain't teaching nobody,
so step back before you get hurt.
- Get in here youngster, I'm gonna teach you a lesson.
- All right then, let's do it.
- All right Jokes. - Ah, there you go, Joker.
(laughing) Come one, man.
- Mandi invited him into the ring and Joker accepted.
Mandi played with Joker.
Having fun slapping him around a little.
He didn't know how angry Joker was getting,
and notched up the trash talking.
By the end of the fight,
the huffing and puffing Joker was also talking trash.
- Ready for this old man? - Ready.
(feet shuffling)
(punching) (grunting)
- Joker had earned the respect of every member,
as he went toe to toe
with a Mandi a professional Heavyweight,
only he didn't see it that way.
He believed he was disrespected by Mandi,
he left the ring to determined, to seek vengeance.
- You still want some Mandi?
- I made a deal with a trustee
who worked in the sergeant's office.
He had access to information on incoming prisoners.
He was successful in placing new inmates
in specific housing units.
He knew them by their names,
their gang affiliations and their crimes.
It cost me a spoon of heroin, every shipment.
Federal bus is coming in tomorrow morning.
- Finally.
Look, there's a vato named Gonzales on that bus.
He's got a package for us.
I need you to get his cell near me.
Or get me the package.
(Si-mon)
Captains calling a surprise inspection on Thursday.
The Goon Squad will be ready,
in case of any resistance.
- Who's on the bus?
- This morning's crew has a load of no accounts,
except Joe Morgan.
Tomorrow, one of yours is landing, Ritchie Mendez.
- Crazy Boy.
- Si-mon.
- Make sure he gets on this tier.
- Orale. - Gracias.
- Alrato.
(door bangs) (shackles jingling)
- I was counting on the boredom of correctional officers
to pull up my plan.
I mean, they was locked up like us for 30 years, anyway.
Kilroy here.
And I'm putting this tier on notice.
Crazy Boy, kicked my pregnant daughter.
You may not think it's personal, but it is.
Anybody got a problem?
Say it now.
(door bangs)
In my era, we took care of the situation.
We wanted to hit somebody, we hit them.
Not some Sureno from the hood.
I did my best to take him out,
but he survived the encounter.
And he was released from prison shortly after.
Unfortunately for him, (man grunting)
he was killed on the street.
(bus engine roaring)
(shackles jingling)
Joe Morgan was a progressive thinker.
And was moving some of the younger brothers
in the organization, forward.
He'd get them in EME,
in which all members assisted each other to the greater end.
(door bangs)
Why did you move me to your cell Joe?
- I had an open bunk.
Wanted to have a brother fighting next to me.
B.G.F. catch me without my leg, and it's over.
You know carnal, we could do damage,
if we stay together.
Veteranos and youngsters, one vision por La EME.
- Orale.
- One of the incidents that elevated tension
between the North and the South,
happened in September of 1968.
It's known as, "the Shoe War."
Most of the inmates were brewing pruno
awaiting Mexican independence day.
Carlitos took a pair of dress shoes
from an unattended cell,
which belonged to Hector "Mad Dog" Padilla
and Manuel "Menito" Romero,
both Northerners, they didn't fit.
So Carlitos gave the shoes to Robot as a gift.
Robot from Big Hazard, was a get down brother,
afraid of nothing.
In fact, he antagonized other inmates,
hoping for a confrontation.
Robot, walked the tier in the shoes,
twirling his pocket watch as if he was in the neighborhood.
Padilla who had been drinking pruno
confronted an unamused Robot,
and demanded the shoes be returned.
- Those are my shoes, ese.
- Yeah, that's right, they're mine now.
- You came in my cell and disrespected me?
- Yeah I did, what's up?
- Who do you think you are?
- I'm Robot.
- Robot refused and made a gesture to bring it on.
- What's up?
- Padilla stated, he would take care of it later.
Robot, not wanting to wait,
retrieved the shank and bust into Padilla's cell.
Menito was in the cell with Padilla
and fought off Robot until they were both stabbed.
Both of them survived and would later become members
of the Nuestra Familia.
The incident ignited about 20 inmates
fighting a C-section cell block.
A Sureno got caught behind the locked gate
with three NF members.
Cricket from Diamond St. was killed by NF Babo Sosa.
The bloodshed would have been worse,
if it wasn't for the bravery of a correctional officer,
named Sergeant McCray.
Who somehow separated the inmates.
The hatred has lived on for 50 years.
- Brother, what is this anyways?
It doesn't look that good.
- That's the same thing you've been eating.
- Ha, for the past couple of years?
(laughing)
- Rodolfo "Cheyenne" Cadena, was born in Texas.
But his family moved to Bakersfield, California,
where he joined the Varrio Viejo Gang.
He committed his first murder at 16 years old.
- Hey Joe, I gotta talk to Cheyenne,
with no one involved in our things.
Could you step off for a little bit?
Cheyenne was a highly respected member, of La EME.
He was trying to establish a peace treaty with our enemies
from Northern California, the Nuestra Familia.
To form a super gang of Mexican inmates.
Most of us fellow Canales,
were against peace with any northerner.
But Cheyenne believed banding together
would give La Raza more power and control
than they could imagine.
This peace treaty you're trying, it's not gonna happen.
In fact, you're probably gonna get killed,
we don't want peace.
And you're probably gonna get put on the list,
figure it out.
- Orale Kilroy, think about this.
A super gang of all Mexicans,
the best from all the pintas.
La EME could control California,
maybe Nevada, Texas.
And who knows carnal?
Maybe the world.
- You're your own man carnal, I disagree.
Well go and keep trucha Cheyenne.
Though Cheyenne had earned so much respect
from his EME brothers,
it wasn't enough to stop the attacks against the NF.
Joker and his associates decided to end the peace talks
by stabbing Cheyenne and Palm hall in Chino prison.
He was stabbed 70 times and thrown over the rail
three stories high.
(door bangs)
There were constant battles between sworn enemies.
La EME was aligned with the Aryan brother,
and the BGF was aligned with Nuestra Familia.
- We have a full fledged war right now.
What I need you guys to do,
I need you to have eyes in the front
and the back of your heads at all time, 24/7.
No passes whatsoever,
green light on everything on the yard.
Do you understand?
- So cut throat with it?
- You already know.
- They should fear for their action.
- Let's do it man.
- The latest attack was an EME aggressor on a BGF member.
The guard in the tower shot Gabby from Florencia 13,
as he was about to finish up on a BGF member.
Gabby refused the gunny
and hopped up the yard in handcuffs.
(door bangs)
(indistinct chattering)
(shackles jingling)
- Lemme give you guys a couple of minutes.
- Yo, Kilroy, sorry about your ese getting shot in the leg.
We don't need this thing to escalate.
- It already has.
- What we wanna do right now, is call a truce.
It was a gunman who shot him.
War on both sides will be bad for both of us.
My boys would die and your boys would die too.
- As far as I'm concerned,
there could be no peace between us.
But I'll send the request to the other carnales.
And I'll get back to you.
(shackles jingling)
(tense upbeat music)
- Kilroy.
A.B. took a vote, we've got your back.
- Carnal, speaking to the BGF is a sin.
Why didn't you come to me to discuss the situation?
The carnales, they all look up to us.
We need to be united.
- I'm not against you, carnal.
But I don't answer to you.
Though Joe and I didn't really have a friendship.
Like a brother you don't see eye to eye with.
We remained distant, but respectful.
Orale?
Everything else gonna be all right.
I'ma talk to you later.
- What's up carnal? - What's up..
- Orale.
- Kilroy, we got word from the streets
that a few carnales are preaching the bible
in our neighborhoods.
They're making our gang look soft.
We gotta take 'em out.
- If any of you are put in more work than those vatos,
you get the green light.
Otherwise, show some respect and leave it alone.
- At least I got one of those Bible thumpers.
- It must be hard to hit a carnal in their sleep, huh?
(chuckles) Sabes que?
Any of you wanna hit an older carnal,
Come to lock up.
In my cell.
Today, or any day.
We'll go life for life,
and I don't sleep.
(chuckling)
Nico, I told you about the brothers
not liking one of ours reading the Bible.
- Kilroy, you gotta read this book.
It's got wars, fights,
love stories,
everything you can imagine.
- You believe everything in that book?
- I do.
I wanna preach, hermano.
I want everybody to know about Jesus.
- You can't serve two masters carnal.
(tense upbeat music)
- Nico's reading the Bible a lot.
And he's showing weakness in other areas.
It's time we clean house.
Kilroy talked to him and it didn't catch.
- Okay.
Then we all agree, he needs to be gone.
He's Kilroy's amigo, tell him to take care of it.
- All right, I'll let him know.
- I received a kite from Joe, to do the hit.
And I told him,
if you wanna do it, do it yourself.
And it created a chasm between the new and the old.
I handled my business and I expected the same.
How are they gonna let the new generation
tell the old generation what to do?
Started losing a lot of respect and times were changing.
(indistinct chatter) (door bangs)
(tense upbeat music)
(shackles jingling) (footsteps pattering)
- Cell's just opened up.
(shackles jingling) (footsteps pattering)
Lock it.
- Sleepy Huerta, took him out.
Started calling himself, the professional,
due to the surgical strike.
Even though spoke to Nico,
I sometimes I think I could have stopped the hit.
I feel bad that didn't.
As far as I'm concerned Nico was a martyr for the Lord.
Sleepy and I had an argument
about the way the hit was carried out.
He took offense to my words and later attacked me.
That was a mistake.
Apparently there was a new way to handle things.
I was doing burpees.
Peanut Butter was in front of me.
A split second before the attack, Sleepy yelled my name.
- Hey, Kilroy!
- He was behind me.
I was able to limit the blade from going deep into my chest.
(grunting) (punching)
And punched Sleepy silly, running sets on him.
I let him loose when I saw the gunner on the tower
ready to shoot me.
- Get down!
- How's he doing?
- He's good, lucky guy.
Half an inch more, he would be stabbed in the heart.
- What kind of meds is he on?
- Just some antibiotics.
- Can I have a word with him? - Sure.
- What happened out there at Kilroy?
- I fell.
- You fell?
You gonna stick with that story?
- Like I said, sarge, I fell.
- You fell, all right.
- As a brother who was down for La Causa,
I never thought I would be a target.
I was quickly back in good graces,
never fully finding out what happened?
That's how it was.
One day you're good.
The next day you get hit.
Prison transfers made it impossible to get my revenge.
- (chuckling) Orale, Kilroy,
see why I want you in my cell?.
I heard you pulled the shank out of your chest,
and then knocked Sleepy out.
- You called the hit Joe?
- Nah, I ain't got no beef with you carnal.
It's personal, between you, Sleepy and Peanut Butter.
- Orale.
Like any generational organization,
there's always conflict between different ideas
and methods of operation, creating underlying tension.
The cell arrangement between me and Joe Morgan
lasted only a couple of weeks.
Long enough to understand
there was a generation gap growing.
Big D was an impressive brother.
He was big and strong and he was a good boxer.
And he was a get down soldier for the La Causa.
When he discovered Christ,
rather than abandoning us,
he kept writing us, plus he would come visit.
- [Big D] My dearest carnal,
I hope that you're well and stay strong.
I am writing you this letter to tell you
and the rest of the world,
I am no longer in a place of darkness.
I have given my life to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
- [Joe] I finally found the freedom I've been searching for.
I want you to know, whatever we did
- [Kilroy] or didn't do,
stays with me.
Only Jesus can judge us and He chooses to forgive.
- [Joe] I'll be praying for you to see the light.
Until then, stay safe my brother.
- Hello Mr. Roybal.
Full disclosure,
I am a former Bell Gardens police officer.
- Police officer?
- Yes.
I left the department to practice law full time.
- You need to practice on somebody else.
- This is what I'm gonna do for you Mr. Roybal.
I'm gonna file a brief with writs and appeals
and we'll hope for the best, okay?
(chuckling)
- With all the hits going on, lots of stories came out
and some of them became legend.
Little Mo Farrell,
was shanked during an EME internal cleansing.
Upon taking him to hospital,
he told an A.B. patient, "if I can't be EME,
"I would rather die."
And pulled his I.V and died within a few minutes.
- All the destruction,
all the hatred,
did anything good come from 40 years in prison?
- Well, maybe one thing.
- And what's that?
- In late eighties, early nineties,
gangsters were killing each other by the thousands
every year.
It was a new thing, called "the drive-by shooting."
Became very popular.
Hundreds every weekend
throughout the south-west United States.
It was a way of killing, without any real danger.
- So what's this I hear?
- He just drove up and blasted the house,
four year old girl was killed,
another one's in the hospital.
Lots of Surenos are getting killed in drive-by shootings
this last decade.
Foot soldiers just gone.
Back in the days it was different.
We walked up and looked the enemy in the face
before we hit them.
- Those days are gone carnal?
- Maybe not?.
We've got some homeboys right now
organizing to stop drive-bys.
Not only was the Mexican Mafia losing soldiers,
but they felt it was a less than honorable way
to carry out a hit.
Not even to mention the women and children
getting caught in the crossfire.
- What happened?
- Our organization felt it was bad business in every way
for soldiers to be killing each other.
And if they did, before that happened,
they had to get the blessing from the EME.
- So how do we hold them accountable?
- Remember, the pintas our home.
- Streets is our backyard.
- Who's leading the charge on the outside?
- There's lots of brothers involved
on the business end of the idea.
But taking the lead is Peter Ojeda "Sana" from Orange County
and Chuco Castro from Los Angeles.
It'll benefit us in building the taxes
and making a more formidable structure.
- Sounds good, carnal.
- Si-mon.
- Si?.
- Sana from Orange County,
he started meetings with the neighborhood shot-callers
from West Side La Habra to Capistrano,
at El Salvador Park in Santa Ana.
A couple months later,
Chuco Castro, started the juntas at Elysian Park,
in Los Angeles.
This is the beginning of the rules of engagement.
- Rules for killing?
- You know any authorized drive-by?
Shooter gets a green light.
Any gang member who encounters that vato,has to hit him,
or he gets a green light.
It was simple but effective.
And just like that the drive-by stopped.
Now, critics are gonna say
that we wanted a bigger, better business to collect taxes
but regardless, we saved tens of thousands of lives.
So I guess we did do something right.
But the devil's a liar.
Proverbs 16, 17, 18, and 19.
Let you know where God's at with that.
(coffee slurped)
You want some coffee?
- Good news.
The Appeal Court reduced the murder conviction
to manslaughter.
And your attempted murder was dismissed.
It's gonna take a few months to process,
but hey, you're gonna be a free man.
What do you know?
A police officer helping me.
My prized possession.
It's the only thing I own.
- It's beautiful.
- Oh, yeah.
- Everyone in the neighborhood is jealous, it's funny.
- Is that right?
I want you to have it.
- You're serious?
- It's yours. (keys jingling)
- Start it up.
- You're serious?
- (chuckling) I'm seriously gonna take it back
if you don't start it up.
(laughing)
(door bangs)
(keys jingling)
(car engine running)
(clapping) Eso!
- Come on in.
- You wanna take me for a ride?
- Let's do it. (laughing loudly)
- You're gonna chauffeur me around?
(door bangs) (car engine revs)
(shackles jingling) (footsteps pattering)
- Kilroy, you got 10 minutes.
- Hey,
my appeal came through.
I'm going home.
- I spent all this time moving up the ranks
and now you're leaving me?
- A lot of heads to role, scores to settle.
You hold it down here.
- (sighs) It's funny.
How I always wanted to be like you.
And now I guess I am.
- You take care of yourself, David.
(somber upbeat music)
(door rattling)
Take care of yourself.
(deep exhalation)
When I beat the case and you was in my cell,
that was the time to beg for forgiveness
and tell you I was sorry,
for not being the father I should have been.
But I turned into EME business.
This was our life.
I should have told you how much I loved you.
I mean,
everything went so left.
I always thought about you.
(sighs)
But this was our life.
- Orale carnales,
what to do with the brothers who found God on the outside?
- Well, every carnal is free to do what he thinks is right.
La EME, has a death oath,
there no longer part of it.
So if you decide to take them out,
we don't have a problem with it.
But let's not forget, these vatos never debriefed,
they're not ratas.
They all put in work to help make La EME, what it is today.
- So they get a free pass?
- I'm just saying.
I mean, these were some crazy vatos that made us prowd
back in the day.
So my advice is this.
As long as they stay in real,
they don't cooperate with law enforcement.
Leave it alone.
We have more important things to do.
- Orale, I'll pass it on.
- There was a few of us EME members
who became Christians.
And I'm proud to say we never debriefed,
meaning, we can never be called rats.
I don't think I ever told you how I became a Christian.
I was using dope again,
no surprise for a lifelong addict.
I wasn't paying rent
and I heard a car drive up.
Knowing they were collecting rent,
I was ready to break and run or hide.
And then I thought,
I never ran from anything in my life.
Why am I gonna run from an old lady?
I saw my wife's aunt jump out of the car
and shuffle up to me.
She was lit up like a Christmas tree.
At that point, I was thinking about hustling her
for some kind of drugs.
She had to be on some kind of medication.
Instead what she did changed my life.
She asked if I would like to accept the Lord Jesus Christ,
as my personal savior.
And I said, "I'm not ready."
Then I heard a little voice,
you've been saying that for 40 years,
another 40 years and you'll be a hundred years old.
- Jesus, I give you my life.
- I ask you to come into my heart.
- I believe that You died on the cross for me,
for my sins.
- I believe that You died on the cross for me,
for my sins.
- Fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
- I ask You to cut the burdens
and take the wheel.
- I ask You to cut the burdens
and take the wheel.
- In Jesus Name.
- Amen.
I was still thinking about getting the drugs she was on.
Only I didn't know she wasn't high.
She had an overdose of the Holy Ghost.
We spoke the sinner's prayer together,
but I told her it didn't take.
She said, what do you mean?
I said, when people accept Jesus,
they shout and jump for joy and sing Hallelujah,
I don't feel anything.
I took a step forward,
something was wrong.
I took another step.
It felt like I was walking on air.
I've been serving the Lord ever since that day.
The Lord has never left my side,
through joy and sorrow.
I was in a big rig crash that nearly ended my life.
I lost my son to the system for many years.
When he was finally released from prison,
he came to know God's love.
I had become distant from my other children.
God's grace gave me another chance.
God led me to start an outreach ministry called,
Homiez 4 Christ.
I spend the time I have left,
preaching about God's grace to gangsters and the homeless.
I even preach to African villages and prisons.
If he changed me,
he can change anybody.
I would visit the prisons where I once was an inmate,
and I shared the gospel.
And I was between two gates
when the spotlight momentary blinded me.
It was the prison warden who despised me, many years ago.
(footsteps pattering)
- Kilroy.
- Whose there?
- It's warden Johnson.
You remember me?
You know, there's something I've been wanting to ask you.
I wanna know why you put the green light out on me?
- Warden Johnson, I don't remember that.
- Now we intercepted the kite out of Pelican Bay.
It says you co-signed the hit.
I had to relocate my whole family because of this.
I don't remember that.
I got an accident and lost my memory.
But I've come a long way,
I'm a Christian now.
- Now, now.
I know you're a changed man,
and that's the only reason why I let you back in my prison.
- You a Christian?
- Am I a Christian?
No, I'm a Catholic.
- Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?
The Bible says in Romans,
that, "If you confess with your mouth,
the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead.
You will be saved.
Do you believe in your heart through faith,
that Jesus is God, died on the cross for our sins,
raised on the third day?
He filled your heart with the Holy Spirit?
- You know, I've thought about this conversation, a lot.
And how it'd go between you and I.
And not in a million years
did I think it would go in this direction.
But to answer your question,
yes, I do.
- Then you're a Christian.
Warden Johnson, can I pray for you?
- Yes, you can.
- Amen.
Father God, thank you for today.
Thank you for blessing me Father with strength,
and thank you for bringing another true soldier home Father.
I pray for warden Johnson for any wrongdoings
I might've caused, Father.
Thank you, Father for letting us be here today.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
- Amen.
- Thank you.
Under a prison spotlight,
I prayed for the warden.
The Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.
(tense upbeat music)
- I went to a seminar.
They wanted to know how I changed my life.
Because there was there was counselors there,
there was psychiatrists there.
With all those titles, PhD, BA,
and there were all there.
And they wanted to know how I changed my life.
And I just told them the truth.
And I gave them a short testimony
of what the Lord had done in my life.
I said, I accepted Him in my life.
And I told them, I also had a B.A.
They said, "How could you?
"You said you only went to the eighth grade."
And I told them, I'm born again Christian.
And I had a PhD.
They couldn't figure it out.
And I told them, "I'm praying heaven down."
♪ Kilroy, keep your head up ♪
♪ Keep to the sky, now ♪
♪ Keep your eyes on the prize till we touch down ♪
♪ Through the hard times ♪
♪ Let your life shine ♪
♪ See your way in my sun shine ♪
♪ Through the dark times ♪
♪ 'Cause you ain't got no place to go ♪
♪ You can't run ♪
♪ God had a plan for this wretched man ♪
♪ God's son, birthed with the word in me ♪
♪ So when I speak on it ♪
♪ It's a message already in me ♪
♪ Born into poverty, survival was reality ♪
♪ Had to be a beast in this gang mentality ♪
♪ The weak and humble, had no place to settle ♪
♪ We're full throttle in the fast lane ♪
♪ Pedal to the metal ♪
♪ Bust your bubble, bust your eye ♪
♪ When you're looking for trouble ♪
♪ Gotta hustle, when you organize dollars on the double ♪
♪ Saggin'cause the pistol in my pants wanna blast ♪
♪ A product of my environment ♪
♪ Where the youngsters don't last ♪
♪ Good promises and old busted dreams collapsed ♪
♪ No hope alive in the box reminiscing on your past ♪
♪ Ain't trying to glorify the days of my rags ♪
♪ I'm just trying to paint a picture ♪
♪ That I burned it in the ash ♪
♪ Trying to put you back on that righteous path ♪
♪ Where the blood was shed ♪
♪ So you can bathe in His bloodbath. ♪
♪ Keep your head up, ♪
♪ Keep to the sky now ♪
♪ Keep your eyes on the prize till we touch down ♪
♪ Through the hard times, let your light shine ♪
♪ See your way in my sunshine ♪
♪ Through the dark times ♪
♪ 'Cause you ain't got no place to go ♪
♪ You can't run ♪
♪ Yeah, uh ♪
♪ It's amazing how time seems to fly by ♪
♪ I stay connected to the cross though just like WiFi ♪
♪ I've never been the type to kick on the sidelines ♪
♪ I was on the move, homie check it on my Timeline ♪
♪ I got a chance to advance past stage one ♪
♪ Now, people wanna act like I forgot where I came from ♪
♪ How in the world am I supposed to forget homie? ♪
♪ When I went there for that murder attemp ♪
♪ So many people were affected by my selfishness ♪
♪ And I began to realize, I can't live like this ♪
♪ Got with the program, trust no man ♪
♪ But Christ show me love homie ♪
♪ Just like a slow jam ♪
♪ God will take a fool and use him as a tool ♪
♪ turn a mess into a message ♪
♪ Homie I'm living proof ♪
♪ Because the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy ♪
♪ Glory to God for the life of Kilroy ♪
♪ Keep your head up, to the sky now ♪
♪ Keep your eyes on the prize till we touch down ♪
♪ Through the hard times, ♪
♪ Let your light shine ♪
♪ See your way in my sunshine ♪
♪ Through the dark times, keep your head up ♪♪
(door bangs) (indistinct chatter)
- You believe everything in that book?
- I do.
I wanna preach hermano.
I want everybody to know about Jesus.
- You can't serve two masters, carnal.
♪ I'ma give it to you bruh, ♪
♪ But let the truth be told ♪
♪ I let fear die, homie when I was 12 years old ♪
♪ I was searching for acceptance ♪
♪ Searching for a father, so ♪
♪ All the veteranos became my role models ♪
♪ If you grew up, where I grew up ♪
♪ You know we willing to ride and die ♪
♪ For that hood that we threw up ♪
♪ Mi vida loca in full effect ♪
♪ And you can tell by the ink tatted up by my neck ♪
♪ The older I got man ♪
♪ The colder I got ♪
♪ And it was all about the Sur homie, like it or not ♪
♪ I was slipping into darkness ♪
♪ My heart was getting heartless ♪
♪ Me and my filleto down a pierce any cartilage ♪
♪ The only thing on my mind, homie, was survival ♪
♪ Never did I think I'd meet the God of the Bible ♪
♪ They say for me to change ♪
♪ It will take a miracle ♪
♪ I was raised by the state ♪
♪ Playing pinnacle but ♪
♪ Homie, God tends to work in mysterious ways ♪
♪ You can look up out a shot-caller to getting saved ♪
♪ He took this wretched man and forgave his sins ♪
♪ You see I never dropped out ♪
♪ Homie I dropped in, come on ♪
♪ I can't even stare this man on the mirror ♪
♪ All these demons and devils keep drawing nearer ♪
♪ My hands are so dirty from all these dirt. ♪
♪ But deep down inside, Lord, my heart does hurt ♪
♪ But what if I told you there's a way out? ♪
♪ Way out ♪
♪ And what if I told you he could stop the drought? ♪
♪ What if I told you you could stand for truth ♪
♪ It's either life or death ♪
♪ Homie what you gonna choose? ♪
♪ Los Angeles is the county that I always roam ♪
♪ But the prison yard, now is a place I call my home ♪
♪ Born and raised in the midst of the grave, ♪
♪ Reminiscing of our past we didn't play ♪
♪ Going through the walls, posted up in the halls ♪
♪ Raising my hand, yeah that vato's gonna fall ♪
♪ Posted up a wicked times through the mind, ese ♪
♪ Coming up the South Side, hard from the Trece ♪
♪ Taking death, that's how it came ♪
♪ That's how I play the game ♪
♪ If you've crossed our path ♪
♪ Keep your shoulder to the lane ♪
♪ I better maintain ♪
♪ Now peep-our step ♪
♪ From the darkness to the light, yeah I never forget ♪
♪ As I sit and reminisce sometimes I go back ♪
♪ Back in the day when I was led astray ♪
♪ But I've gotta be thankful for all that I got ♪
♪ No more packing a guete or slinging that rock ♪
♪ As I moved from the varrio ♪
♪ Or the Lord approached my soul ♪
♪ It was time to surrender, this was taking a toll ♪
♪ I didn't wanna die, see ♪
♪ On my own expectations ♪
♪ So I gave him my life ♪
♪ Now it's puro my salvation ♪
♪ I can't even stare at this man mirror ♪
♪ All these demons and devils keep drawing nearer ♪
♪ My hands are so dirty from all these dirt ♪
♪ But deep down inside, Lord my heart does hurt ♪
♪ But what if I told you there's a way out ♪
♪ Way out ♪
♪ And what if I told you He could stop the drought? ♪
♪ What if I told you you could stand for truth ♪
♪ It's either life or death, homie, what you gonna choose? ♪
♪ Life or death, life, life, life, life ♪
♪ Life or death, homie, what you gonna choose? ♪
♪ Life or death ♪
♪ Life or death, homie what you gonna choose? ♪♪
- You know, one thing is for sure you can't live forever.
(audience clapping)
Yeah, so I know where I'm going.
(audience clapping) - [Audience] Yeah.