Page 8 - Raul Leon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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 community safer. >> but while leaving a gang may be considered by many to be courageous, raul leon sees it as a despicabl...

>> 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 him. >> they accuse me of lots of things, you know. but i don't -- i don't ever sa...

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...

>> 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 pelican bay is about. only the strongest are the ones that are going to make ...

>> the communication, they cracked 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 him. >> they accuse me of a lot of things, you know, but i don't -- i don't ever...