Page 3 - Raul Leon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Convict code is the code of silence. talking about gang business can get members killed. >> they got rules, and we got rules within the rules, you know. among different people or among different races. but we have to deal with it. you know, i can't elaborate too much on it. >> the subject was clearly off the table when we sat down at pelican bay state prison with raul leon, alleged to be one of the leaders of the most powerful prison gang of all, the mexican mafia. >> how powerful is the mexican mafia here at pelican bay? >> i don't even touch on that right there. i don't speak on it myself, y...

He would have people assaulted. he would have riots take place on his orders. >> serving a life sentence for murder, leon lives in what is widely regarded as the most restrictive environment in the state of california -- pelican bay security housing unit or shu. inmates are confined to their cells for all but 90 minutes per day, which they're allowed to spend in a nearby concrete exercise area. leon had been living here for 14 years when we met him. >> i always tell people, they ain't built a prison hard enough to break me, you know? and some of us are stronger than others. i think that's what...

He has spent the past five years manning one of the shu's control booths. >> what have we got right now, 43 inmates in here, i'm responsible for keeping them protected from one another. i'm responsible for keeping the staff protected from the inmates. if i open the wrong door at the wrong time, staff or inmates can be injured. and that is -- becomes all my fault. i cannot blame anybody else. >> to prevent bloodshed, gang activity must be strictly monitored and documented by every correctional officer at pelican bay. one of the most notorious inmates serving time in the shu is raul leon, a repu...

Bay-raised, been up here going on 14 years. >> cortina was once a prominent leader of nuestra familia and housed in the security unit. >> i was doing 16 to life and i knew if i continued the way i was living back in the shu, i wasn't going to get out. so i wrote my brother in the navy. i told him what i want to do. i let my dad know, my other brothers know. their response was, it's about time. >> it's a big step when you come out here, because the first phase of it is, how do i act? >> walter farmer is a former member of the aryan brotherhood. serving a 23-year sentence for murder, he spent se...

Jimmy to the barber as soon as possible." we caught two of those letters, but we didn't catch the third one. >> the communication, they crack down on us as much as they can. but i can communicate through letters, cards, we send out cards. >> raul leon wrote over 1,000 letters in a six-month period of time. we uncovered at least 500 offenses that were committed through the mail. we cut off his correspondence for a period of one year, however, he used his associates around him to send letters. so then we moved him to another section where he would not be around his associates. then he paid his r...