Mexicn mafia rene enriquez boxer

Rene "Boxer" Enriquez (born July 7, 1962) is a former high-ranking member of the Mexican Mafia, a violent prison-based criminal organization also known as La Eme, where he earned a reputation for personally committing murders and issuing orders for killings to enforce the gang's control over drug trafficking, extortion, and street-level operations both inside and outside California's correctional system.^[1][2] Convicted of two murders carried out on behalf of the gang in the 1980s and 1990s, Enriquez received a sentence of 20 years to life, during which he continued wielding influence as a shot-caller until his disillusionment led to defection.^[3][4]Enriquez's criminal ascent began in the gang-riddled streets of East Los Angeles, where he joined Sureños-affiliated groups before being inducted into La Eme while incarcerated, rising through its hierarchical structure via demonstrated loyalty in violent acts that included stabbing rivals and executing suspected informants or tax-skimming associates.^[5] His tenure exemplified the Mexican Mafia's parasitic model of taxing Southern California street gangs for protection and profits, which fueled widespread narcotics distribution and inter-gang warfare.^[6] By the early 2000s, internal betrayals and the gang's unrelenting code of silence prompted Enriquez to approach authorities, marking a rare dropout from a group notorious for greenlighting defectors.^[7]As a cooperating witness since 2002, Enriquez provided debriefings and courtroom testimony that dismantled key La Eme networks, contributing to federal racketeering convictions and exposing the gang's infiltration of prisons and communities; his insights, detailed in investigative accounts, underscored the organization's resilience despite such breaches.^[2][7]Parole boards granted him release in 2022 after multiple denials, citing his rehabilitation and utility to law enforcement, though his case highlighted tensions between public safety concerns and the value of insider intelligence in combating entrenched organized crime.^[8][9]

Early Life

Childhood and Family Background

Rene Enriquez, of Mexican-American descent, grew up in middle-class homes in areas including Thousand Oaks and Sunset Hills, California.^[6] His father worked in business, fostering a relatively stable family environment, while Enriquez showed early promise academically in school.^[6]Despite these advantages, Enriquez was influenced by peers who idolized individuals returning from prison, viewing incarceration as a path to status and respect within their social circles.^[6] This environment diverted him from legitimate pursuits, such as emulating his father's career, toward involvement in local street gangs during his youth.^[6]

Entry into Gang Culture

Enriquez joined the Artesia 13 streetgang, a Sureño-affiliated group operating in the Artesia area near his hometown of Cerritos, California, at approximately age 12 or 13, following the example of his older brother Marc, who was already a member and bestowed upon him the nickname "Boxer."^[10][11] His initiation ritual consisted of a physical beating administered by fellow gang members behind a local gas station, a common practice in such groups to test loyalty and endurance.^[10] This early alignment with a streetgang reflected a pursuit of respect among peers influenced by ex-convict "homeboys," amid a middle-class upbringing that failed to deter him from delinquency despite initial academic promise.^[12]By his early teens, Enriquez had dropped out of Cerritos High School after the ninth grade and escalated involvement in gang activities, including theft, home burglaries alongside associate Johnny Mancillas, and experimentation with drugs such as marijuana, PCP, and LSD, which he also began dealing.^[10][11] His first significant brush with the law occurred via an arrest for sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman at a party, resulting in time in juvenile hall; subsequent offenses, including armed robbery, deepened his entrenchment in criminal subculture and foreshadowed transitions to more structured prison gang dynamics upon incarceration.^[10][12] These experiences solidified his immersion in Sureño gang culture, where street-level violence and loyalty codes prepared members for affiliation with the Mexican Mafia in prison.^[13]

Criminal Involvement with the Mexican Mafia

Initiation and Rise in La Eme

Enriquez joined the Mexican Mafia, or La Eme, during his first term of imprisonment in the California state prison system, where membership required proving loyalty through acts of violence against rivals and strict adherence to the gang's code.

After all, Enriquez was serving two life sentences. You go there, and you learn prison," Enriquez says. Holguin (2019 trial, affirmed 2022), his testimony elucidated how incarcerated Mexican Mafia members like David Gavaldon exerted control over the Canta Ranas Organization (CRO) through drug revenue extraction, supporting convictions of multiple defendants on conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, firearms offenses, and RICO violations tied to La Eme oversight.^[22][23]Enriquez further testified in United States v.

His insights into kites (prison notes) and verbal codes have aided law enforcement in over a dozen cases involving La Eme-linked violence and extortion, though exact conviction tallies remain classified due to ongoing informant protections.^[24][25]

Impact on Gang Operations

Enriquez's defection from the Mexican Mafia in 2002, as one of its highest-ranking members, exposed the gang's internal hierarchy, communication codes, and operational tactics to law enforcement, enabling targeted disruptions to its prison-based command structure and street-level extortion rackets.^[6] His detailed debriefings revealed how La Eme maintained control over Sureño street gangs through "taxes" on drug sales and violence regulation, allowing authorities to intercept coded messages and prosecute members for racketeering under the federal RICO statute.^[16] This insider knowledge facilitated the freezing of gang financial accounts holding tens of thousands of dollars, curtailing funds used for bribes, legal defenses, and hit contracts.^[6]As an expert witness in scores of federal and state trials, Enriquez's testimony decoded intercepted communications and corroborated evidence against key figures, contributing to lengthy prison sentences for multiple Mexican Mafia associates involved in murders, drug trafficking, and conspiracy.^[16] For instance, in 2006, he wore a wire to uncover a $150,000 murder-for-hire plot ordered by the gang, providing evidence that prevented the killing and led to arrests, thereby deterring similar operations.^[16] His interpretations of Mafia lingo in recorded calls have been pivotal in cases like the 2022 conviction of a member for a 2016 Paramountmurder, where he explained coded references to greenlighting hits and enforcing compliance.^[26]The broader operational fallout included heightened paranoia within La Eme ranks, as Enriquez's revelations—drawing from his awareness of over 70 gang-sanctioned murders—eroded trust in communication channels and weakened the organization's ability to coordinate from prisons like Pelican Bay.^[6] This led to internal purges and retaliatory violence but ultimately fragmented command lines, reducing the gang's capacity to dictate street-level activities such as drug distribution and protection rackets in Southern California.^[16] Federal prosecutors have credited such high-level defections with shifting the balance against La Eme, though the gang adapted by imposing stricter vetting for communications and recruits.^[16]

Imprisonment, Parole, and Release

Life in Protective Custody

Following his defection from the Mexican Mafia in 2002 and subsequent cooperation with law enforcement, Enriquez was placed in protective custody to shield him from retaliation by gang members, isolating him from the general prison population.^[16] This status confined him initially to high-security units, including an 8-by-10-foot cell in facilities like Pelican Bay State Prison's Security Housing Unit (SHU), where he had previously spent approximately 10 years (1993–2003) in near-constant lockdown, managing gang operations despite the isolation.^[2][27]Post-defection, Enriquez transitioned to a Sensitive Needs Yard (SNY), a designated area for gang dropouts and vulnerable inmates, allowing limited privileges such as walking without shackles, access to fresh air, and interaction with similarly at-risk prisoners, contrasting the windowless, 24-hour solitary conditions of the SHU.^[27] His custody involved transfers to undisclosed locations under U.S.

Marshals escort for external activities, including medical visits and meetings with prosecutors, with no conjugal visits permitted; he married in a federal building in 2008.^[2] Amenities included a laptop for co-authoring books like The Black Hand (proceeds under $100,000 directed to family support), video games, and a razor for personal grooming, reflecting accommodations tied to his informant role.^[2][16]Enriquez's routine in protective custody emphasized his utility to authorities: he decoded Mexican Mafia communications from recorded calls, testified as an expert witness (e.g., contributing to seven convictions in a 2005 San Diego federal trial), and participated in educational efforts, such as lecturing college students and contributing to a UC Irvine gang studies course via video and email.^[16][2] He also attended conferences and delivered guest lectures, such as one for the LAPD in 2015, always under heavy escort, underscoring the ongoing security risks despite these engagements.^[16] This arrangement persisted amid repeated parole denials, maintaining his life sentence status in isolated, monitored conditions.^[16]

Parole Hearings and Denials

Enriquez's initial parole suitability hearing occurred in September 2014, when the California Board of Parole Hearings recommended his release after determining he posed a low risk to public safety, citing his extensive cooperation with law enforcement since defecting from the Mexican Mafia in 2002.^[28] However, on February 20, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown reversed the decision, arguing that Enriquez demonstrated a shallow remorse for his crimes, including two 1989 murders, and had voluntarily embraced the gang's violent ethos without sufficient personal accountability; Brown also highlighted Enriquez's history of drugrelapse and smuggling in prison as undermining claims of rehabilitation.^[28] Victim Cynthia Gavaldon's family expressed relief at the denial, emphasizing the ongoing trauma from her ordered killing.^[28]A subsequent hearing in February 2016 again resulted in a board recommendation for parole, based on Enriquez's continued testimony in gang prosecutions and participation in self-help programs.^[29] Governor Brown overruled this on June 30, 2016, reiterating concerns over Enriquez's extensive record of violence—including convictions for murder, gang rape, robbery, and a jailhouse stabbing—and his tendency to attribute actions to gang influence rather than individual agency, which suggested incomplete insight into his behavior.^[29] Brown further noted that Enriquez remained an active target for retaliation by the Mexican Mafia, potentially endangering the public if released.^[29] Gavaldon's children testified against release, describing persistent family suffering.^[29]In April 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom denied parole following another board review, emphasizing the premeditated nature of Enriquez's 1989 murders and his leadership role in ordering hits, which demonstrated a pattern of manipulative violence outweighing his post-defection contributions.^[30]The Board of Parole Hearings recommended release again in May 2020, acknowledging Enriquez's role in over 40 prosecutions leading to dozens of convictions.^[13] Newsom reversed this on September 18, 2020, stating that Enriquez's history of extreme violence, including an estimated involvement in more than 10 murders, and descriptions by psychologists as a "smooth talker" potentially gaming the system for personal gain indicated insufficient evidence of genuine transformation.^[13] Newsom expressed doubt that Enriquez's prison conduct reflected true change, prioritizing public safety risks from his manipulative tendencies despite law enforcement endorsements.^[13] Gavaldon's daughter criticized Enriquez's book profits as exacerbating victim pain.^[13]

Recent Release and Public Statements

Rene Enriquez was granted parole by the California Board of Parole Hearings on July 18, 2022, following multiple prior denials, after serving approximately 32 years in prison for murders committed on behalf of the Mexican Mafia.^[8][31] Unlike previous instances where governors Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom overturned parole recommendations—in 2015, 2016, and 2019—the 2022 decision was not blocked, allowing his release into federal witness protection due to ongoing threats from the gang he had infiltrated and betrayed.^[32][30]Post-release, Enriquez has maintained a low profile under protective custody but has engaged in public interviews to discuss his experiences and the inner workings of the Mexican Mafia.

All he ever has known and touched has died,” said her father, Raymond Figueroa, referring to Enriquez as a “monster.”

He had two gang associates, including Figueroa's daughter, killed for violations such as stealing drugs and money. "He doesn’t believe they’re going to chase him down like you see in the movies, hunt him throughout the world.”

Yet Enriquez plans to keep cooperating with federal authorities as they are again prosecuting the leadership of the prison-based gang that began in the 1950s in a juvenile jail and has since grown into an international criminal organization.

“It’s how he makes amends," Sheppard said.

The attempted murder was committed in full view of lawyers and Sheriff Deputies that attempted to intervene.

Enriquez has said he quit the gang in 2002 when he discovered its members were killing children and innocent relatives of gang members who fell into disfavor.