'Snitches Wear Stitches' in NJ Cases
“Snitches wear stitches,” is the assertion of a New Jersey gang leader that is proving true in two related cases.
Latin Kings leader Jose Negrete told the New York Times in a jailhouse interview that gang members who cooperate with prosecutors are unlikely to survive. He spoke specifically about a gang member known as Bam-Bam who has agreed to testify about the death of Lynn Dotson, a member of the Latin Kings killed after witnessing the kidnapping of a rival gang member. Police believe Dotson was killed because of fears she would testify about the crime.
Negrete is suspected of ordering both attacks. Roberto Rodriguez, the man known as Bam-Bam, is suspected of carrying out the first attack on the rival gang member.
After Rodriguez agreed to testify about Dotson’s murder in exchange for a 12-year sentence, he was attacked in prison. An inmate threw scalding hot water and baby oil in his face.
Negrete said he had no role in the attack but he wasn’t surprised by it.
“What’s Bam-Bam going to do, take his plea deal, do his 12 years in protective custody?” he told the Times reporter. “Then what? What’s he going to do when he gets out? Where’s he going to go where no one will be able to find him?”
