Respected youth counselor testifies to committing crimes for Nuestra Familia - Santa Cruz Sentinel

Respected youth counselor testifies to committing crimes for Nuestra Familia - Santa Cruz Sentinel: "respected Bay Area youth counselor and art teacher testified last week that he was secretly committing crimes for the Nuestra Familia gang and meeting with its leaders in Salinas while he worked with at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jason Treas, of Richmond, said on the witness stand in Sacramento federal court that he had been a member of Nuestra Raza, an affiliate gang of the Nuestra Familia, and that he contributed proceeds from East Bay drug sales to the gang's leaders in Salinas from 2004 through 2006.
The revelation came during testimony last week in the ongoing Operation Valley Star conspiracy case against dozens of Nuestra Familia members and associates, most from Monterey County. Operation Valley Star began in Watsonville when police began targeting members of the California prison gang Nuestra Familia. Police joined the FBI in a multi-jurisdictional effort to bring down members of the gang after a crime spree through Watsonville and neighboring cities began in the fall of 2003.
Treas said he went to at least six meetings in Salinas where he met with Larry 'Paqui' Amaro, a defendant in the case; Nuestra Familia member Robert 'Bubba' Hanrahan of Salinas; and former gang member Mario Diaz of Castroville."