due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. follow "lockup" producers and crews as they go behind the walls of america's prisons and jails with scenes you've never seen. "lockup: raw." >> unlike prison, all inmates are convicted, most jail inmates are only charged with crimes and waiting trial with resolution of their cases. both prisons and jails deal with a common problem, gangs. and for some, suppressing gang activity is a daily challenge

that comes with life or death consequences. >> slide out. slide out. on your stomach. keep going now. just like that's fine. >> on front line of the battles are gang investigators. >> they have walk a fine line, managing a difficult relationship with dangerous inmates and each one has a different way of doing business. but the investigator we met in cleveland really stood out from the crowd. >> clear. seven. look at me. >> he's known at the cuyahoga county correction center in downtown cleveland as big sam. >> you used him. who's the victim? you sit here won't even open your mouth to tell me nothing about what these guys did -- >> we quickly learned gang investigator sam mclaren had a personality to match his physique. >> big sam's style was one of dedication and passion. >> you have that candy -- >> sweet. >> i'll see you later. >> thank you. >> you take care of yourself.

>> he could be very caring and heartfelt in his communication, but he could also be very loud and bombastic when he felt he was being disrespected or lied to. >> this ain't no game! ain't no deals! personally going to see you, my friend. because i've been laughing since i've seen you. >> a change in these young men's lives. one example of how sam cared about the inmates, inmate tony goodwin. someone's story we have been following for a while. everybody expected him to be convicted of a murder charge and face a long term in prison. >> we, the jury, find the defendant tony goodwin not guilty of aggravated murder. >> but in fact, tony got a lesser conviction and was going to serve a smaller time in prison. big sam had known tony goodwin for years. >> tony. >> sam. >> tony came into the facility as a minor and sam had watched him grow up, and one day i saw

sam sitting at a table and i could hear sam counseling tony. >> now you have that opportunity to get back in the mainstream with your family. >> he was obviously talking to him about trying to avoid gang activity and stay on the right path, but it was a heartfelt communication. >> this time, you're afraid of what tomorrow might be, you're afraid of what's going to happen, you're afraid of what your friends are going to be, but you've got to understand, what is this going to cause tony? this is the opportunity, tony. i'm glad. >> thank you. >> i really am. >> i'm going to do something with it. >> while mclaren stayed on top of the activities of several gangs, one in particular required most of his attention. the jail's largest and most violent gang, the heartless felons. >> heartless felons is a gang that was basically established in our facilities, some young individuals, many of them, was upset and tired of how they was

being treated, how they were being disrespected. they formed, they retaliated against anyone they felt disrespected them. >> they pressed other individuals to join, to distort, to lead up, you name it, they do it. it's become very violent and persistent. and they don't mind to lend people know what their agenda is. they'll come in and say, i want your commissary, give it here. i want your food tray, give it here. you don't do anything about it. they got you. then, after a while, they'll you you want us to stop picking on you, you have to join us. you don't want to continue to have his food taken, don't want to continue to give up his tray, so they do what they ask him to do. so what he do? he'll do the same thing that they did to him. >> during the shoot, there was a rash of heartless felon activity which they assaulted other inmates, and stole food or other items from the jail commissary.

>> took all of our stuff. >> we were with associate warden eric ivy when he visited a housing unit in which many of the problems occurred. he put the heartless felons on notice. >> this my jail. ain't nobody in here going to run nothing in here but me. what you need to do is lay it down. >> three of the inmates in the unit, however, were pulled aside. they were confirmed by the jail to be heartless felons. but they had not been associated with any of the recent thefts. warden ivy decided they should be placed in general population, freeing themselves for more problematic heartless felons from other housing units. >> stand in the hallway. >> one point we were filming and i could hear sam yelling, and i thought he was yelling angrily at somebody. quickly grabbed brian, our cameraman, there was sam. mr. bill, mr. jackson, mr. washington -- >> delivering this sermon. >> when you hear people say the men in black, they don't give a

care, they don't have no love, i tell you yes, they do. understand, mr. bill, mr. jackson, mr. washington, this is your opportunity at this time to make a choice. >> it was almost like a warning, and then as i was listening to him and it just got loud somewhere more impassioned as he went, i realized he was making sure that everybody, all of the inmates, knew what was going on, these three guys were getting a second chance. >> now, i want you to show them, i want you to show this department that you can stand and make a difference. i know you might say, big sam, i don't think he's talking to me right. i just want you to know, that's just the way it is. nothing personal. this is a jail. you got a life ahead of you. what you do with it is on you. >> at one point in the speech, big sam was warning these inmates that because they were being let out of the situation, they may be viewed as snitches. >> you know just as well as i

do, it will come back. why they let bill out? why he's not standing with the fam? why they let jackson out? why he's not standing with the fam? why they let washington out? why he's not standing with the fam? you have to answer that. >> they weren't snitches, but sam was saying you're going to have to stand up if you want to walk the right line, if you want to get out of the lockup situation you're going to have to stand up and be an individual versus a group think like most gang members. >> do you have the heart? do you have the courage? it's easy to follow. i say to you all today, follow your own mind, be your own leader, be your own man. >> this is what i admired about sam, he had this underlying goal to try to get these guys out of the gang. so show them another way. >> i tell you this, it's nothing personal, you come back this way, for any reason, you'll be in there with them, or if you're

successful, not only in your life but in your case, everybody understand? we thank you. coming up -- >> chapman is an orchestrator. he calls the shots. >> a heartless felon leader explains the philosophy on theft. >> stealing is going behind somebody's back and taking it. taking it is going up to you, i'm going to get that watch. you don't give it to me, i'm going to beat you up and take it. first, the man in the middle of the violent gang conflict inside san antonio's largest jail. >> the mexican mafia have a very different personality. you can spot them just by talking to them. a, we believe if healthcare changes, if it becomes simpler... if frustration and paperwork decrease... if grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things.

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when the "lockup" field team arrived in san antonio, to begin our first "extended stay" shoot in texas, it didn't take long for one of our crew members to

realize he wasn't in los angeles anymore. on day one, jacob hector was assigned to a nearby rooftop in order to shoot a time lapse of the city's county jail. >> i never thought shooting time lapses on the roof my feet would be so hot. there's a cold air duct here. it's like literally a savior at this point. if it wasn't for this, i might have to tap out. >> code 2. code 2. >> during the months we spent in san antonio, to shoot our "extended stay" series, we discovered a source inside the bexar county jail as well. a bitter gang rivalry. and in the middle of it was officer rodriguez, the jail's gang investigator. >> you're next. lock you down. >> for what? >> i saw you throw your -- >> no, i was putting my shirt up. >> started yelling s.o.s.

>> [ bleep ]. >> i was standing here watching it. >> officer rodriguez is an expert on gangs and loves being an expert on gangs. he's fascinated with the political structure of gangs, fascinated with how the fwangs are changing. he is tough but fair. he talks to the gang members in a very respectful way. >> can't stay in population. ever been part of a gang before this? >> he treats them as intelligent beings and tries to help them figure out what is the best way for them to make it through the system and make it through the system safely? >> get you back in your cell. >> straight. >> [ bleep ] upstairs. >> dozens of identified gangs in the bexar county jail, two most dominant and dangerous are the texas mexican mafia and the tango. once they were family but now they're enemies. >> the texas mexican mafia started in the early '80s and it began a very small prison gang. as time went on, the numbers

obviously grew due to recruitment. and those that recruited members now became known as big ears, but it also has like a slang meaning like nosey, like you're listening out. so the san antonio inmates took this name, they were proud of it. >> according to officer rodriguez, the recruits were not often rewarded for the dangerous jobs they were assigned. >> these new recruits, they were abused early on in the mid to late '80s. they were used for all of the job, the suicide missions if you want to call them that, jobs you knew you were going to get caught doing. they actually ref referred to these guys as crash dummies. said you're going to go through this job and get it done. the big ears started thinking about it. why are we doing all these jobs and we're not getting anything out of it? and as time progressed, they realized they outnumbered the true members of the mexican mafia. so in 1997, they decided to break away.

>> even though the two feuding gangs were cut from the same cloth, today, they're very different. >> the mexican mafia and the orejones have a different personality. in fact, you can spot them just by talking to them. >> mexican mafia members tend to be older, run their gang with a military-like hierarchy and strict accordance to their constitution and rules. >> they did not want any media attention. the mexican mafia would not talk to us at all. >> they keep a low profile in jail and prison, directing criminal enterprises on the streets. >> they know how to talk to correctional staff and officers here. you see a difference in the respect issue. yes, sir, no, sir. >> thank you, sir. >> uh-huh. >> you have a good day, sir. i'm sorry to have bothered you about this. >> thank you. >> they do everything under the table. there's no need to try to intimidate any longer. their name alone provides that command presence. versus the other, very young group trying to get their name

out there, letting people know, look, we're aggressive, really intimidating. they're likely to be very disrespectful, anti-authority, more likely to be very disruptive in the living units. >> nothing can prepare you for going into the orojone unit. you realize these are a bunch of young men with a lot of energy a lot of anger, feel tremendously caged in and they start banging and yelling and screaming. >> a show of force and come dominance, they wanted everyone to know they were the audio group there. i felt bad for our audio mixer. >> what's it like recording audio in here? >> as you can tell, recording sound here is a real pleasure. there is a lot of background noise. >> 210, baby.

orejone, baby. >> 210, that is the area code for the san antonio area. so what they're trying to tell everybody is san antonio is better than everything in the world. >> when we first entered the orejone units, we wondered whether the media was there, they were acting up for us. the staff told us, no, generally that's the way they are. they may be acting a little bit more for you, but they're normally that loud. and i thought to myself, i'm only here for a short period of time, i really don't know how these officers stand it all throughout their shift, because the noise was deafening. >> everybody thinks that this job that we have is such a gravy job and such an easy job. i challenge anybody come in here, work this job for a week, and see if we're overpaid. >> to give you an example of how different the mexican mafia

units are from the orejones, there was one incident where we were filming a cell inspection. >> we came on shift today and it was reported by first detail that a couple of razors were missing from pencil sharpeners. >> get down low. >> when the officers go in and do a check on their property and find out a razor blade's missing, everything stops. >> no property of the jails can go missing because you can turn anything into a shank. >> down on the floor, any sudden moves will be taken as aggressive and we will use force on you. >> cell shakedown in which all their items are inspected is exactly the kind of attention mexican mafia leaders want to avoid. >> they're low profile, want to be ignored so they can engage in their criminal enterprises while they're in our facility. >> we went in, started shaking down the cells, looking for contraband, in addition to razor

blades. we will continue to search and they won't like the results. >> eventually, sergeant overstreet got on the loudspeaker and asked for whoever has the pencil sharpener to give it up. >> i told them, give up the razors, then five minutes they showed up. they were thrown out. into i dayroom area we don't know who threw them out. they're pretty sneaky when it comes to that, but they threw it out. mexican mafia leadership, not going to be happy, i don't think. and they are going to look into who took those razors. and i'm sure that they're probably going to say something to those individuals who are responsible for taking them. hopefully nothing will come out of it and nothing more than maybe a verbal, don't do that, is what we're hoping but then again, we don't know. coming up -- >> get on the floor. >> the informant explained he was given direct orders to engage in a riot.

>> -- the story behind the gang riot that rocked the jail. >> get on the floor. do not move! and -- >> why do they call you cruise? >> say i look like tom cruise. >> the cleveland inmate who stood up to the heartless felons gang. ane... his shoes! and a third simply doesn't want to be here. ♪ until now... until right booking now. ♪ planet earth's number one accomodation site booking.com booking.yeah!

in 210, san antonio. >> represent 210. >> our gang coverage in san antonio revolved around a rivalry, there was a different story inside cleveland's cuyahoga county correction center. most of the problems there swirled around one dominant gang. >> oh, that's raw. >> the heartless felons. but its members referred to it by another name, the family. because they say that's what they really are. >> heartless felon is like a family for real. it started for me in juvenile, people from other cities, they here, columbus, cincinnati, they go down there, take our stuff, and pick on us, we formed a group. when they take our stuff, we go, get our group together, we go fight them and get our stuff back. >> pierre chatman was the first

heartless felon who agreed to talk to me. >> the system call it a gang. it ain't no gang, though. it's a family for real. it's just people sticking up for each other, that's all. >> you can see part of what the draw was. here are kids in juvenile jails, probably without family support, probably without resources, and they're being offered this family-like situation, where you're going to be protected, part of something bigger, and pierre really embraced that. >> pierre chatman. pierre chatman is an orchestrator. he orchestrates. he calls the shots. pierre, as a whole, he's -- he's a nice guy but, you know, i wouldn't turn my back on him too much, though. >> gang investigator sam mclaren felt the same way about the rest of the heartless felons as well. >> you lying to me. we do have a problem with the heartless felon gang.

they constantly always involved in extorting, threatening, manipulating. >> we met numerous victims of the heartless felons, a gang best known for stealing commissary items from other inmates and often those steps are accompanied by violence. >> slapped me. [ bleep ]. >> one guy steal it divide it up in three, four different cells. just like a lion when he go out hunting. one lion might not eat today but will take part in the hunt or eat what's left over. this is how they are. >> but the heartless felons say stealing is against their rules. >> one thing the heartless felons don't steal. we take, we take it while they're there. we don't steal something, we don't do. >> chatman, who is awaiting trial for aggravated murder, to which he pled not guilty, clarified the heartless felons don't steal, they take. >> stealing is going behind somebody back and taking it. taking is going in their face, telling this mine if you want to fight, we can fight.

if you are going to do something about it, do something about it. >> pierre, if i'm holding this watch and you come up and say, i want this watch, i'm taking this watch. >> that's taking. stealing is you put it back there, you walk out and i steal it and go behind your back. >> if i say you can't have the watch, you take the watch anyhow, that's theft, that's stealing. >> stealing, as far as in jail, as far as how i was, stealing is going behind somebody back and stealing while they're not there, without their permission. taking is going up to you, i'm going to get that watch, if you don't give it to me, i beat you up and take it. >> whether it's called stealing or taking, one inmate we met figured out how to outsmart the heartless felons. >> why they call you cruise? >> i look like tom cruise. >> oh, that's what it. >> shane fryer, awaiting trial for a felonious assault charge to which he pled not guilty, had seen many other inmates in his unit fall victim to the gang.

>> we had problems with stealing and everything in here, and i mean, i'm smarter than most of these guys in here i would like to think. i marked off all the upc codes on all the commissary. >> sure enough while out of his cell, some heartless felons got inside and stole his commissary snacks. but he, who has brawn to back up his brains, risked physical retaliation by reporting the theft to staff who immediately took action. >> if anybody want to volunteer say they went to three men cell and took commissary, if i got a man that said it was him, everybody else don't have to suffer. >> nobody volunteers to speak up, officers conduct a cell-by-cell search. but this time, they know exactly what to look for. this gentleman's smart enough to mark his commissary. we have to find his commissary, whoever has the mark is the one's that's going to be in lockup. >> you had kool-aid? >> yeah. >> this is how you marked your stuff. >> yes. >> very good, very good.

awesome. as you see, that's one way that we ask them to try to identify their items because we have this type of activities that occur and that's very good, okay? three guys actually went to the hole, but we did not get all of his commissary back. a lot of time when this type of thing happen, when they hit a cell, they try to use as much as they can to get rid of the evidence. >> concerned about possible gang retaliation, staff decided to move him to a new unit to protect his safety. but he says the risk was worth it. in fact, he welcomed it. >> a little part inside of me was setting these guys up. i'm sick of them treating us like we're weak. i knew they were going to steal this. i left my door open and everything, act like i wasn't watching my door. guys went in there, stole my stuff and they got caught. i mean, they got what was coming for them. coming up --. >> suddenly we're getting

involved with the kind of thing we'd usually be filming. >> the "lockup" field team finds itself in the middle of a heartless felons caper. >> who took this stuff? and -- >> their mouth is saying one thing but tattoos saying something completely different. >> gathering gang intelligence through inmate ink. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪

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i'm milissa rehberger. here's what's happening. president obama spoke earlier tonight at a fourth of july celebration for military families. he thanked members of the armed forces for working hard to uphold america's ideals. meanwhile, vice president joe biden spoke at an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. and pro and anti-immigration protesters turned out in california, on tuesday demonstrators there blocked bus loads of immigrants heading for a border patrol facility. back to "lockup." due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised.

inside san antonio's bexar county jail, two gangs, the mexican mafia and the tango orejones, pose the greatest threats to security. but according to gang investigator officer rodriguez, there are only two pieces in a complicated puzzle. >> in the bexar county jail, there are approximately nine prison gangs, but uncountable number of street gangs. street gangs pop up, literally overnight sometimes. and dissolve just as quickly. however, prison gangs have a lot more of a thicker history, it's a larger population, they're actually nationwide. >> one of the larger gang is the aryan brotherhood. >> aryan brotherhood is a true prison gang like the mexican mafia. they do have a constitution, they do have a hierarchy, they do have a parmilitary structure. >> at the mostly hispanic bexar county jail, the gang is uncharacteristically quiet. >> the white population is very

low. you may have a unit of 48 inmates but only 10 whites in there. it's counterproductive for white groups to cause any tension when they're so severely outnumbered. >> the few aryan brotherhood members that i did get to know in the bexar county jail did have a lot of bravado. even though they were minorities, they acted like they were the majority. they did act like king of the hill. >> aryan brotherhood of texas, we represent red, black, gold, red for the blood, black for the bruises and gold for the money. >> among the aryan brotherhood inmates at bexar county jail, the personality of todd "big country" allen. >> another day in paradise in bexar county. they can't segregate everybody. you have to sign a paper saying who you are, you won't cause any problems. they will put you in population. >> talk about your life. that's mostly what it's about

here. when i first met "big country" he sidled up to me and said, hey, sweetie, ever thought of dating a three-time felon? he was kind of serious, actually. i didn't see a smile on his face. i said actually, "big country" no, i have not. and he goes, oh, that's all right, sweetie. i said also, i am married and he looks at me serious, he goes, you know i can take care of him for you. >> the aryan brotherhood is the minority, the mexican mafia represents the old guard, the largest and fastest growing gang in bexar county is the tango orejones. jail officials do everything possible to keep members of the rival orejones and mexican mafia segregated in their own housing units in order to avoid conflict. the challenge is identifying them. since most gang members are taught to adamantly deny any affiliation. >> come on over here. let's go talk. >> every inmate that comes into our facility is interviewed by a

classification officer. >> have you been in the current residence more than a year? >> yes. >> any problem with seizures? >> no, ma'am. >> suicidal? >> no, ma'am. >> one of the big things to look for is gang affiliation. >> gang related? >> no, ma'am. >> lift your shirt up. i've got to take a look at your chest anyway. check out the body tattoos for mostly gang relations. >> if for some reason they can't get them to admit to it but they suspect it, they refer to us, the gang officers and we'll attempt to go ahead and establish an affiliation. >> you're involved in a report, report alleges that you're mafia. >> mafia? >> yeah. >> no. >> it's common for gang members to say i'm not one of them, they're going to try to avoid getting locked down. however, their mouth is saying one thing, but tattoos are saying something completely different. let me see your tattoos, man. take off your shirt. >> the mexican mafia carries aside from just their name, menti mexican mafia tattooed on their body, common tattoos are

aztec symbols, you'll see the pyramids and the sun god looking up. numbers will almost always correlate to letters of the alphabet. we'll see numbers like the number 13, "m" is the 13th letter of the alphabet. orejones? >> no. >> the orejones are less complex. >> that way. for them, san antonio is their city. so anything san antonio-related will be on their body. other common things are area code. 210. >> 210, baby, what's up? >> spur symbols are common and our city skyline is very identifiable. skyline, right wrist. known as orejones which means big ears so we'll see tattoos of an actual ear somewhere on their body or playboy bunny. if you know how to read the tattoos, you know flat-out this guy's a member. >> gang inspectors like officers rodriguez and rocha identified

and segregated thousands of gang members, no system is perfect. neither is shooting "lockup: extended stay." >> when shooting "extended stay," you will shoot for several weeks then be down a week or so and then come back. we shot our first couple of weeks, we saw the gang tension but it was pretty much under control. we went away for a week, and during that week, a huge riot broke out. mostly in the annex. >> the annex, a section of the jail where many newly arrived inmates live while going through the classification process. when we returned to the jail, we learned how officer rodriguez used his many contacts to suppress the riot shortly after it began. >> we received information from an informant, the informant is a member of the mexican mafia. the informant explained he was given direct orders to engage in a riot that will happen at 8:00

on this specified day. every member of the mafia is required to participate, no exceptions. the problem was, we had no way to validate the information given to us. so we didn't know, you know, do we lock down the jail? do we wait and see what happens? what exactly are we going to do at this point? by this time, we were hours away from when he said the riots were going to happen. so we went ahead and put our cert team, special response team, on standby and just as the informant said, 7:45 in the annex, when the first altercation began. and domino effect occurred. >> get on the floor. >> we were not present to cover the riot, the jail did provide us with footage of the aftermath shot by the special response team officers. >> we don't at this point know the exact reason why the mafia ordered this assault. an interesting theory we have is

the riot occurred on march 23th, 2012. i began to wonder why march 23th, 2012, of all the days to pick, why that day? anybody that wears tattoos, if they put a number on the body, numbers correlate to letters of the alphabet. the mexican mafia carry number 13, and the 13th letter of the alphabet is "m." so i look at the date, 3/23/2012, if you put all those numbers together, it equals 13. if my opinion, that's probably were they close it. why they decided riot is another issue. >> next person to talk will be tased. >> with the dedication to secrecy, it's always difficult to gain intelligence on the mexican mafia, but we did meet some inmates who knew plenty and were willing to speak. coming up -- >> we tell any ex member of any prison gang, your life is in danger. >> that's the way it goes, you're in it for life or you're dead. there's no way out of it. >> a former mexican mafia

lieutenant speaks out. and -- >> we start filming and our production assistant said, did you take the candy box out of the car? >> the "longup" field team falls victim to heartless felons. >> give it up. if you don't, everyone's going to suffer. we're right where you. at the next job, next adventure or at the next exit helping you explore super destinations and do everything under the sun. 12 brands. more hotels than anyone else in the world. so wherever you want to be, whatever you want to do, chances are we're already there. save up to 25% and earn bonus points when you book at wyndhamrewards.com.

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that's not how any of this works. [ male announcer ] 15 minutes for a quote isn't how it works anymore. with esurance, 7 1/2 minutes could save you on car insurance. welcome to the modern world. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. born in cleveland's juvenile detention centers, the heartless felons had grown to be a force within the cuyahoga county correction center. >> it was a little reminiscent of oliver twist. it was a group of kids, basically, that had formed this family-like pact and they would run amok doing their various crimes within the facility. and we'd all come back and kind of share the spoils of their criminal behavior. >> during our "extended stay"

shoot, several inmates had food or phone cards stolen by the heartless felons. near the end of our time in cleveland, we joined the victim list as well. >> another day. >> another day on "lockup." >> at the center of it all, pierre chatman, the first heartless felon we had met in the jail. >> one thing heartless felons, don't steal. we take something, we take it while in they're there, we don't steal. something we don't do. >> pierre, as a whole, he's -- he's a nice guy but, you know, i wouldn't turn my back on him too much, though. >> gang investigator sam mclaren's warning would prove prophetic during a routine day of shooting in chat man's housing unit. >> we travel with a cart, we also are allowed to keep snacks, waters, we're never close to anything once we start traversing the jail. and we left our camera cart in a secure location, behind an officer's desk, when we had all

gone into a pod to start filming. >> sit down, you're make me nervous. >> you know, the a crowded pod, everybody out of their cells. we had staff with us, obviously to keep an eye on us, and one point i did see pierre chatman who was going to be part of what we were filming dart out of the pod and go to the left on his way out he tapped another inmate and they kind of ran off together and we start filming and our production assistant came up to me and said, hey, did you take the candy box out of the cart? you know we had a little box, little snacks in it. i said no. and he started asking the crew members and everybody said no. he said, well, it's gone. >> though it rarely happens, "lockup" field teams are required to report any missing items to staff regardless of how harmless or inexpensive they might be. when we did, staff immediately took action. >> everybody, everybody, lockdown. everybody in.

lockdown. everybody in. everybody on lockdown. >> we're in here to do our thing, someone wants to walk out there and take [ bleep ] off their cart. if we don't get it back right now, we're going door-to-door, we're seeing everything you ain't supposed to have. so whoever did it, now, take the punishment so we don't punish the rest of the pod. >> [ bleep ]. >> whoever took something, give it up. if you don't, everyone's going to suffer. >> man [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> as minimal as it seems, the fact that somebody stole candy, it's still taken seriously because it's a theft. >> no tv. >> that's the way it's going to roll. >> [ bleep ]. >> jail has to show that they're going to hold everybody accountable for any type of infraction. and they don't tolerate any type of illegal activity. >> where was it? >> lock them all down, shake it all down, strip them.

everything they ain't supposed to have is coming out. >> during the cart gang, officer saw chatman enter another inmate's cell. that cell was targeted to the search. much to the surprise of its occupants, the snack box was found under the mattress. >> had nothing to do with it. >> where? >> under here, right here. i never go into my room. >> come on, man. >> i found it under my mattress. >> look, if it's in the house, come on, man. >> those guys were claiming they had nothing to do with it. >> who took this stuff? >> [ bleep ]. >> cell number 2 belonged to pierre chatman who was immediately taken to segregation. after interviewing other witnesses and holding disciplinary hearing the next day, jail officials found chatman and another inmate responsible for the theft and gave each an additional 14 days in segregation. >> i was disappointed that we had to be drawn into this situation. the staff has enough to deal

with. i didn't want to be an extra burden to them. they were wonderful about it. >> so they just took advantage of an opportunity that was presented to them just by a split second someone looking away or someone not paying attention to the cart. so i'm okay with that. we were able to find those individuals that took the candy off the cart and bring them to justice. >> we hadn't broken any infractions. and for them it was more important that the people who did it be held accountable. but it was odd to suddenly have to shift positions. we're there to work, to document people's stories and now suddenly we're getting involved with the kind of thing that we would usually be filming. >> the incidents provide yet another insight into a gang whose members have committed far more serious acts, such as assault on other inmates and staff. but whose roots go back to when they were young teenagers in juvenile detention centers. >> there was our cart, had a lot

of stuff on it, camera gear and whatnot, and they took candy. something they could have gotten off a commissary, they decided to take a little box of candy. it was so indicative of the heartless felon m.o. they take stuff from other people and then they can prove, look what i got, i got this from this other person, and it happened to us. >> i'm the star of the show, man. i'm the star, man. coming up -- >> i believe when it comes to another gang, why not beat them psychologically? >> an ex-mexican mafia lieutenant explains his method of warfare. [ male announcer ] it takes two hands to eat a manwich. leaving zero hands to save the universe. hold on. it's manwich.

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most gang members in prison or jail know to keep secrets. but few are as disciplined about it as the mexican mafia. during our shoot at san antonio's bexar county jail, we did meet some inmates willing to talk.

they were in a special protective custody unit for gang members who had had enough. >> the ex-gang unit was night and day different than any of the active units we had been to. the inmates had a sense of relief that getting out of the gang provided them, and it showed. >> the ex-gang unit is the only place where those affiliated with warring gangs live together peacefully. but they're fully aware their decisions to leave their gangs carry consequences that could follow them forever. >> we always tell any ex-member of any major prison gang, your life is in danger. there is somebody out to get you. it is going to happen. just remember that you were part of a criminal enterprise and you left it, and there is by their bylaws a hit on you. >> that's the way it goes. you're in it for life or you're dead, you know, there's no -- there's no way out of it. >> victor, who requested we only use his first name for security

reasons, once a lieutenant in the mexican mafia. he defected, while serving a prior 23-year prison sentence for kidnapping and aggravated assault. victor was back in the bexar county jail on a parole violation. >> when a mafia member decides to defect, active members of the mafia place what's called a green light on that ex-member. if there's a light on you, they will always beat you until you are no longer alive. so if they beat you one day, you happen to survive this assault, three weeks later you're walking down the street and see you, they're going to keep assaulting you until you're no longer living. >> i always try to stay a step ahead, checking my surrounding, you know, after a while, being in prison, you more or less know. you can sense things. when a guy starts acting a little strange, you know he's up to something. >> victor says, in the 1980s he was one of the first members of the texas mexican mafia. and rose to a high ranking in the gang. >> i had the power to order hits, i had power to do a lot of stuff.

i didn't believe in, how can i say this, physical violence, i believed, you know, when it comes to another gang, why not beat them psychologically? why not plant this information? >> for example, victor says in prison, he was once housed next door to a member of a rival gang. using a method called fishing in which inmates used string to pass items from cell to cell, victor put his plan into place he would attempt to fish a magazine with a note inside to a nearby mexican mafia member. >> i would call to my gang brother, two cells down and purposely miss his cell for the magazine to land in the next guy's cell so he could get it, that's what i wanted him to do. in the note victor falsely written a particular inmate in the rival gang was really a member of the mexican mafia. >> and, of course, he would read the letter and then he would pass it to his other gang brothers and sometimes it would

end up stabbing their own brother thinking it was one of us. so, see, that's the kind of psychological warfare that i like to employ. >> victor says that he sees parallels between the early days of the mexican mafia and those of its younger, wilder rival, the tango orejones. >> the mexican mafia basically started like the orejones now, let's do this to protect ourselves so nobody else will get extorted, so nobody will get beat up. but then eventually they start doing the same thing. it's just like a david and goliath thing. first you're david and then turn into goliath. >> ironically, segregating the orejones to curtail their growth might also be speeding their transformation into a more organized gang like the mexican mafia. >> unfortunately, by segregating them, we are creating the ground for this gang to become more of a structurized group.

we have reports of what are known as checks, the term the orejones created, and the check basically means you have to prove your heart to stay in the unit. and they're checking every inmate that comes into the unit. you're not going to force somebody to prove their heart unless you're trying to structurize, who is the weaklings, who are the actual members? they're weeding out those that don't belong and this is clearly identifying the factor for a structurized group. >> structure often translates into a more effective criminal organization. but in jail, it's up to the gang investigators to prevent crime before it happens. >> one thing that really amazed me about officer rodriguez is how much dedication he had to his job and how much courage he displayed because officer rodriguez is not just dealing with these gang members inside the jail. he will also be called sometimes

to testify against them in court. >> i do have to testify on a lot of not only just gang members, but high-ranking gang members for very heinous crimes and at the end of the day i still have to go home and be with my family and live a completely different life than the life i'm living here. i've run into many gang members outside the facility. i've had death threats against me or i've had these guys saying that they're going to get me. i've had guys even attack me before. but i'm a peace officer, i'm always carry, i don't go home the same way every day. in the end, i'm still here. i'm not going anywhere. i love what i do. i cross my fingers. to me it's part of the job. i love it.

due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> follow "lockup" producers and crews as they go behind the walls of america's prisons and jails. the scenes you've never seen. "lockup: raw." the cuyahoga county corrections center in downtown cleveland, ohio, is just like other jails, in that most of the inmates are only charged with crimes and are awaiting trial at the resolution of their cases. and jails located in big cities also share a common challenge -- >> get down, get down!