Page 5 - Raul Leon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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 reputed leader of the mexican mafia. >> whatever it is, lockups or the violence or the madness, the murders, the riots, that's just -- you grow up in that. so thi...

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 rivals to send mail out for h...

>> gangsters come in as youngsters. same reason military recruits youngsters, you are invulnerable then, you're immortal. after you hit 30 or so, well, the picture is a little different. >> it's trying to start this program called mentors for mex about educating society and enlightening them on the criminal activity of the gangs. gangs are like cockroaches. they're always going to be around. but hopefully by having actual people who were actual members of these organizations, if we can enlighten them on some of these activities, hopefully we can help curb a lot of their activities and make our...

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, you know? >> raul leon had such influence throughout the state by assi...

[ bleep ]. it's just a scam. it's individuals just trying to play the last card they have, saying, hey, you know what? i got to get out of here. the only thing good about them debriefers and rats is that they could never return back to their neighborhoods. they're ostracized. >> leon's anger is aimed at men like miguel perez, once a high-ranking member of the mexican mafia himself. perez had already left the gang several years before we met him, and he's not looked back. >> as for what soured myself on the gang life, in all honesty is i opened my eyes to see it for what it is. it's all a bunch...