The Family Man

Summary

---

The Brothers Ortiz, Episode 3: "The Family Man"

Podcast: The Brothers Ortiz
Host/Reporter: Sean Flynn
Date: December 24, 2025
Production: Campside Media & iHeart Podcasts

---

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the complex and divergent paths of Gabe and Larry Ortiz—two brothers from Brazoria County, Texas, who ended up as opposites in the justice system. Gabe became a ranking state officer, while Larry found a life in the notorious prison gang Puro Tango Blast. When Larry is killed in a violent home invasion, the fractured Ortiz family is forced to confront their shared past, hard choices, and the realities that led Larry into a life of crime.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Family Breakdown and Upbringing

• Gabe leaves a “Rockwellian” family for the Air Force in 1992; within three years, their mother moves out, shattering the household’s stability.
• Alicia Ortiz (sister) recalls unchecked freedom after their mother departs—with minimal parental supervision, she moves in with her boyfriend at age 14 ([04:48]).
• Gabe tries to save Alicia from instability, offering her a place in Abilene, but she ultimately stays for her boyfriend and becomes a teen mother.

Quote:

• Alicia on her adolescence:

  "I had a lot of freedom that kids that age normally would not have...that apartment was mine and I could have my friends come and go..." ([04:35])

2. Gabe’s Path to Law Enforcement

• Gabe completes his Air Force service, meets his wife Melinda, and after a brief, disliked stint at a youth detention facility, becomes a county jailer in Taylor County ([08:51]).
• He confronts offers of bribery from inmates and resists gang influence even while earning little ([10:02]).

Quote:

• Gabe, on being targeted for corruption:

  "How would you like for an envelope full of money just to show up in your mailbox every month?" ([10:29])

3. Larry’s Descent into Gang Life

• While Gabe tries to go straight, Larry is pulled into the emerging crack epidemic in Brazoria County during the ‘90s ([18:19]).
• Friends Antonio and Wade describe the neighborhood as awash in drugs and violence, and the easy money—and cool—of gang life as seductive to young men ([19:11]).
• Contrast between Gabe’s resistance and Larry’s embrace of illegal opportunity ([11:45]).

Quotes:

• Wade on the lure of dealing:

  "It was all about being cool...the girls liked the cool, thuggish bad boys, so that's what we became." ([19:11])

• Antonio reflecting:

  "You feel bulletproof. You know, at 18 and 19, I thought I was grown and I knew what I was doing. I had no clue." ([19:31])

4. Turning Points for Friends, Not for Larry

• Both Antonio and Wade eventually leave the life due to family intervention and fear of causing more pain, a contrast to Larry who remains embroiled ([20:40]).
• Grandma’s disappointment catalyzes Wade’s decision to stop, while Antonio’s week in jail prompts self-examination ([21:02]).

5. Larry: The Family Provider, Despite It All

• Larry moves up in the drug world—manufacturing, not just selling, crack—and evades the worst legal consequences for a time ([22:43]).
• Family members discuss Larry’s dependability and loyalty:

  "Larry was good at taking care of things. You know, he was going to make it happen regardless...He was gonna get by and he was gonna make sure that everybody that rode with him was gonna be okay." ([23:05])

• Larry becomes family patriarch in a broken household, caring for daughters and a partner’s child ([24:09], [24:31]), and mentoring his sister Alicia—however illicitly.

6. Alicia's Entry into “The Game”

• With no support from their absent parents, Larry brings Alicia and her boyfriend into dealing, teaching them how to make and sell crack so they can provide for her young family ([25:52], [26:17]).
• Alicia’s matter-of-fact retelling is both chilling and oddly tender, highlighting Larry’s fierce but misguided love ([30:26]).

Quote:

• Alicia:

  "Larry kind of took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. And he was like, okay. He's like, I'm gonna put you on. And so, sure enough, we started selling crack." ([25:59])

7. Gabe’s Career Advancement and Conflict

• A conversation with a seasoned jailer, JC, points Gabe toward the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), where he becomes a state trooper—doubling his pay and climbing above correctional work ([33:55]).
• Gabe is posted back in Lake Jackson, in his home county—a symbolic homecoming fraught with emotional and ethical challenges as he must confront his past and the people he once knew, including family ([36:03]).

Quote:

• On returning home:

  "I've been gone for a number of years, so yes, it was a homecoming. Things changed. I knew that at some point I was gonna encounter a lot of people that I knew, you know, family members, people I grew up with. And how was I going to deal with that?" ([36:16])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Alicia’s early freedom ([04:35]):
  "I had a lot of freedom that kids that age normally would not have..."

• Gabe confronted by gang corruption ([10:29]):
  "How would you like for an envelope full of money just to show up in your mailbox every month?"

• Wade’s wakeup call ([19:39]):
  "Your brother on his way out and you on your way in, huh?"

• Antonio’s epiphany in jail ([21:02]):
  "He looked me in my eyes, and he told me, he said, do you think you're some of the problem? Sat in there a week, the city jail in Freeport. Thinking about it...that was enough for me."

• Alicia on Larry teaching her to deal ([25:59]):
  "Larry kind of took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it...we started selling crack."

• Gabe’s homecoming ([36:16]):
  "I knew that at some point I was gonna encounter a lot of people that I knew, you know, family members, people I grew up with. And how was I going to deal with that?"

---

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment | Description | |---------|--------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:54 | Family fractures | Family changes after Gabe leaves for Air Force | | 05:26 | Alicia’s teen struggles | Alicia moves in with boyfriend, becomes pregnant | | 07:11 | Gabe’s career path begins | Work in security, then youth corrections, jailer | | 10:29 | Gang bribe attempt | Texas Syndicate attempts to recruit Gabe | | 15:25 | Larry’s old neighborhood | Friends Antonio & Wade discuss the drug's grip on their youth | | 19:39 | Wade’s turning point | Realizing the pain caused to his family | | 21:03 | Antonio’s jail reflection | Police challenge his self-identity, leading to quitting the life | | 22:43 | Larry’s “business” acumen | Larry succeeds in the drug trade, stays out of jail for a time | | 24:09 | Larry as family man | Larry raises two daughters, supports Alicia | | 25:59 | Alicia’s entry into crime | Larry shows Alicia how to make and sell crack | | 33:55 | Gabe applies to DPS | Gabe gets guidance to become a state trooper | | 36:16 | Gabe returns home | Gabe is posted in his home county as a DPS trooper |

---

Tone & Language

• Reflective and conversational; anecdotes and shame mix with gentle humor and family warmth.
• Direct and unembellished; participants speak frankly about their mistakes, regrets, and the circumstances that drove them.

Example:
Alicia on seeing Gabe’s reaction to criminal past revelations:

"And I expect him to be shocked, maybe even a little hurt because what she's saying is appalling...And yet he seems amused because it's also kind of sweet."

---

Summary

This episode traces how two brothers, shaped by the same broken environment, took different but equally hard paths—one toward the law, the other toward lawbreaking. "The Family Man" frames Larry’s criminality less as simple villainy than as a flawed form of love and responsibility in the face of poverty and familial abandonment. Meanwhile, Gabe’s journey is marked by integrity, ambition, and the eventual challenge of returning home both as a lawman and a brother. The episode captures the emotional complexity of familial bonds tainted by crime, loyalty, disappointment, and the longing for redemption.

---

End of summary.

Transcript

[Sophie Cunningham]

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don't sleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.

[IBM Spokesperson]

So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage on top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages? Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business. Lets create smile to business. IBM.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Oral health goes beyond just aesthetics. It's deeply connected to your general health and well being. That's why preventing oral health problems before they start is so important. When you use the Colgate Total Active Prevention System, you're not just helping to prevent oral health problems like cavities and gingivitis, you're laying the groundwork for overall wellness. Colgate Total's three product routine includes a reformulated toothpaste, an innovative toothbrush and a refreshing antibacterial mouthwash that all support a healthy mouth. In fact, the three products were designed to work together to be 15 times more effective at reducing bacteria buildup in six weeks starting from week one compared to a non antibacterial fluoride toothpaste and flat trimmed toothbrush. Take control of your oral health and get the Colgate Total Active Prevention System today so you can be dentist ready. Visit shop.colgate.com totally make their holiday unforgettable with a gift that says it all from Pandora Jewelry. A gift that tells the story and shows you know theirs that doesn't just sparkle but speaks.

[Sean Flynn]

From new festive charms to forever rings and personal engravings, this season, give a gift that's perfectly theirs.

[LifeLock Spokesperson]

Whether you're shopping for a shiny surprise.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

For your significant other, matching bracelets to celebrate your friendship, or or a heartfelt gift for a family member. Say more this holiday season with Pandora. Shop [e-mail] or visit your closest Pandora store.

[Medical Advertisement Narrator]

What do you do when things get tough? You don't give up. You stand your ground. If you've been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and have tried hormone therapy Ask your doctor About Pluvicto Lutetium Lu177 Bifatide Tetrexitan Pluvicto is not chemotherapy. It's a different treatment that targets PSMA positive cells. Bluvicto can be used before chemotherapy for some people. Bluvicto is a prescription treatment used to treat adults with prostate specific membrane antigen positive metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer or PSMA positive MCRPC who have already been treated with hormone therapy and are considered appropriate to delay chemotherapy. Pluvicto involves contact with radioactivity, which may increase the risk for cancer and cause fetal harm. Drink plenty of fluids, urinate often, use contraception and talk to your doctor about ways to reduce the risk of exposing others to radiation. During and after treatment, Pluvicto can cause low levels of blood cell counts, kidney problems and infertility. Tell your doctor if you have weakness, pale skin, shortness of breath, bleeding or bruising more easily an infection, or changes in urination. Side effects include decreased blood cell counts, tiredness, dry mouth, nausea, appetite loss, joint or back pain, and constipation. Ask your doctor about Pluvicto because every day without cancer progression is a victory. Visit pluvicto.com to learn more.

[Alicia]

Campsite Media.

[Sean Flynn]

When Gabe Ortiz enlisted in the Air Force and left Brazoria county in 1992, he was launched into the world by a stable, intact family. Mom, dad, brother, sister, all living together under the same roof. Kids going to school, the whole family going to church. It was almost Rockwellian. But within three years, the family Gabe left behind had fragmented. First his mom left his dad and moved into an apartment with Alicia, Gabe's little sister.

[Alicia]

My mom's never been the disciplinarian.

[Sean Flynn]

This is Alicia. She remembers the supervision being less than rigorous.

[Alicia]

I had a lot of freedom that kids that age normally would not have. You know, it's like that apartment was mine and I could have my friends come and go and my boyfriend Ponch, he was always coming to go in.

[Sean Flynn]

And then mom moved to Mexico with her new boyfriend.

[Alicia]

I did go ahead and move in with Ponch and his family.

[Sean Flynn]

How old were you?

[Alicia]

14.

[Sean Flynn]

14. Okay.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

I was like, like what was going on there.

[Sean Flynn]

Gabe was back stateside by then at an Air Force base in Texas.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

When mom left with this other man, sister got left behind and almost abandoned.

[Alicia]

I can recall Gabriel trying to get me and pick me up and take me back to where he was roadside. And I think it was Abilene at the time.

[Sean Flynn]

It was.

[Alicia]

He was like, I'm going to get you, you know, let's pack up your stuff, we'll put you in college, you know, we'll get you set up over there. He shows up, and my dad's there to say goodbye. I get my bags, I go inside. Gabe's out there waiting, and Podge starts bawling. I mean, he drops to his knees and he's like, don't leave. So I felt bad. So I go out there and I tell Gabe and my dad, I'm staying. Gabe's like, what? And I said, yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and stay. About a month later, I find out I'm pregnant with my first kid. And I was like, God, Gabe's gonna. Gabe's gonna be dis.

[Sean Flynn]

From campside media and iheart podcasts, this is the brothers ortiz. Episode 3 the family man.

[Antonio]

I'm sean flynn.

[Sean Flynn]

When Gabe's Air Force tour in Turkey ended, he was just a few months shy of finishing up his four year commitment. So the Air Force made Gabe an offer. He could stay in Turkey for those last few months, or if he signed up for another year, they'd send him back to Texas. Abilene, just about dead center of the state.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So that's where I got sent to Dyess Air Force Base.

[Sean Flynn]

He was a senior airman by then, still working security, mostly for B1 bomber payloads. @ Dyess. In Abilene, he was much closer to Brazoria county, which, despite the chaos, was still home. About a month after he landed, in the spring of 1996, he met a woman in a local.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Bar. I said, probably the corniest thing ever, but I said, you have to be the most beautiful woman in this bar tonight. And so we're standing there talking and a song comes on, and she says, hey, I like this song. And she grabs me by the hand and we go out on the dance floor and the rest is.

[Sean Flynn]

History. That actually worked.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Huh?

[Sean Flynn]

Yeah. Her name is Melinda, and she and Gabe got married in August of 1997. A little more than a year after they met, they're still married and happily so. Yeah, Abilene worked out all right. Three months after they got married, Gabe was honorably discharged from the US Air Force. As an immediate practical matter, that meant Gabe was unemployed. He had nothing lined up, no prospects. He'd applied at the local sheriff's office, that's Taylor county, having been trained in security and law enforcement already. But he hadn't heard anything back. He ended up going to a job fair where he got hired by the Texas Youth Commission. In fact, he got hired on the Spot right then and there, which probably should have been a.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Hint. It's essentially a detention facility. It's almost like a prison for.

[Sean Flynn]

Youth. He didn't like it. Fortunately, he only had to stay there for three months because the Taylor.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

County sheriff called, and they offered me a position as a jailer inside the Taylor County.

[Sean Flynn]

Jail. A jailer is a law enforcement officer, but not a cop in the way most of us think of cops. They work in the jail, as the word suggests, looking after inmates and keeping order. But it's not the same as a prison guard, either, because county jails mostly hold short timers, your weekend drunks, people who've been arrested but not convicted and are just waiting to make bail, and misdemeanor offenders serving short sentences of less than a year, usually days or months, for relatively minor crimes. There are also people being held in pretrial detention. They haven't been convicted of anything, and they are, of course, presumed innocent. But some of them are enough of a flight risk or enough of a danger to others that a judge has either denied them bail or set it so high that they can't post.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It. That's where I got exposed to some of the.

[Sean Flynn]

Gangs. The American correctional system, and especially the Texas correctional system, has a lot of gangs. In fact, the Texas department of public safety's criminal intelligence service has identified thousands of gangs, including 19 they call security threat groups. There's the Aryan brotherhood, Crips Bloods, Mexican mafia, Barrio Azteca, and on and.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

On. I saw how these inmates were trying to manipulate other staff. I mean, they're gonna try. You know, I'm a new jailer, and certainly some of these gangs were trying to manipulate me, you know, get me to bring in something, do favors for them. A member of the Texas.

[Sean Flynn]

Syndicate. The Texas syndicate is one of those security threat groups, both a prison gang and a street gang, mostly of Mexican Americans and mostly in.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Texas. He was very careful about how he described it, but he essentially said, how would you like for an envelope full of money just to show up in your. In your mailbox every month? I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, well, he said, I can make that happen. And I'm like, okay, what's the catch? He said, well, you know, if we asked you maybe to do us a favor and bring in some things into the jail, you know, you'll be compensated for.

[Sean Flynn]

It. In most prisons, there is a robust underground economy that only functions if goods, drugs, cell phones, cash, what have you are smuggled in from the outside. And the easiest way to do that is to bribe a.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Car. He's like, it's no big deal. Nobody, nobody cares, not hurt anybody. He's like, man, what do you make, $10 an.

[Sean Flynn]

Hour? Yes, yes, he did, but he turned him down. Thank.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You. Anyways, he tried every once in a while. I was like, hey, that offer still stands. If you want to, you know, man, we can help you out. I know you're not making.

[Sean Flynn]

Much. At the same time, Gabe was saying no to the Texas Syndicate, even though he was barely scraping by. His brother Larry, just a few hours down the highway, was very much saying yes to the gang life. And that paid a lot.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Better. This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or osa, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snore loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine.

[IBM Spokesperson]

Company. So let me get this straight. Your company has data here, there and everywhere, but your AI can't use the data because it's here, there and everywhere? Seems like something's missing. Every business has unique data. IBM helps your AI access your data wherever it lives. To change how you do business, let's create smarter Business.

[Pets Best Spokesperson]

IBM. Protect your pet with insurance from Pets Best plans start from less than a dollar a day. Visit petsbest.com Pet insurance products offered and administered by PetsBest Insurance Services, LLC are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Co. Or Independence American Insurance Co. For terms and conditions, visit www.petsbest. products are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company, Independence American Insurance Co. Or Ms. Transverse Insurance Co. And administered by Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC. $1.00 a day premium based on 2024 average new policyholder data for accident and illness plans. Pets Age 0 to 10 tis.

[LifeLock Spokesperson]

The season for identity theft. This time of year, most of us are checking off our holiday gift lists. But guess what? Identity thieves have lists too, and your personal information might be on them. Protect your identity with LifeLock. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second and alerts you to threats you could miss by yourself. Even if you keep an eye on your bank and credit card statements. If your identity is stolen, your own US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. And all plans are backed by the million dollar protection package. The last thing you want to do this holiday season is face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or other financial losses from identity theft all alone. Make this season about joy, not identity theft. With Lifelock, save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code iheart or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off terms.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Apply. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. One of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to the big man up north. And this year he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of Mint Mobile's unlimited wireless for $15 a month. Now you don't even need to wrap it. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront.

[Pets Best Spokesperson]

Payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed slow after 35gb if network's busy, taxes and fees extra. See.

[Sean Flynn]

Mintmobile.Com. While Gabe was in Abilene trying to figure out what to do with his life, his little brother Larry was still running the streets in Brazoria County. Few of them.

[Antonio]

Anyway. It was maybe three.

[Sean Flynn]

Streets. This is Antonio, but that's not his real name. Antonio agreed to be interviewed and recorded for this podcast, but because we talked about some sensitive things, we're not going to use his real name. He and Larry have been friends since they were.

[Antonio]

Kids. It was them three streets that had everything sold up. Just drugs with.

[Sean Flynn]

Problems. Antonio is in his mid-40s, shaved head, lots of tats, built like a fire hydrant, squat and thick. And yet somehow genuinely surprised that anyone might find him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Intimidating. Where in the house do you want to do.

[Antonio]

It? Right here in your living.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Room.

[Sean Flynn]

Okay. We met at his house, a neat little bungalow in a green and quiet neighborhood. And by we, I mean a whole bunch of us. Gabe is there, as is his mom Gloria, his sister Alicia and two of her kids. And Larry's friend Wade. Again, not his real name.

[Wade]

Either. Tell me one more time, Sean. Larry was. Was. I could call him my brother in law, but he was. He was actually my brother. My sister was his wife. And I know they've been together at least 30.

[Antonio]

Years. Seventh.

[Wade]

Grade. Yeah, something like seventh grade. I consider his family even before Larry and Kissy even met. We wouldn't go nowhere without each other. If he was here now, you know, we'd be Here together, you know, we. If they didn't go, I didn't go. If I didn't go. Sometimes they still go, but it just depend on what I had going on. But for the most part, it was gonna be us three. We was in a neighborhood that was just full of. Full of drugs and alcohol and everything that comes with that. Which again, are we known, for the most part is what we've seen on tv. So now we're actually living it. And it's. It's different than what it is, what it was on tv. The consequences. I mean, you know, people dying, getting shot, stabbed, cut fights. The drive bys started happening more frequently. It was always something going.

[Sean Flynn]

On. We're sitting at a high top table just off the kitchen. Antonio's drinking Michelob Ultras. He's a little nervous, yet still carb conscious. He's also a gracious host. You can hear both of our bottles rattling on the table. We also had an audience. Gabe was standing there off to the side.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Listening. Sorry, can I interject really quickly? If there's some criminal stuff, I know, we know Larry was involved, y' all was involved in some stuff. And you can talk about it. It's not gonna come back to.

[Sean Flynn]

Anybody. Just no.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Names. Just no names and.

[Sean Flynn]

Dates.

[Wade]

But. Well, we don't do that anyway.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

So just saying like, don't hold.

[Medical Advertisement Narrator]

Back.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Yeah. Because I mean, shit, there's probably stuff you already talking about that I don't even know about.

[IBM Spokesperson]

Which. And I'm like, I'm.

[Wade]

Listening. I don't.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Know. So anyway.

[Sean Flynn]

Sorry. There's a movie playing on the tv, one of the Fast and Furious franchise, but it's on mute. Everyone is listening to Antonio and.

[Antonio]

Wade. What was it in the 80s? I think crack hit that neighborhood real.

[Wade]

Hard. 91 92. Yeah, 91.

[Sean Flynn]

92. Crack is just powdered cocaine alchemized into a cheap smokable rock. For the buyer, it hits harder and faster. And for the seller, it's more lucrative because they can retail smaller quantities to more people. It first showed up in significant quantities around 1980 in Miami. And then pretty quickly spread to most major cities. It took a while, a decade apparently, to filter into smaller, out of the way markets like Brazoria.

[Antonio]

County. That epidemic there was. It hit the little community we grew out of, hit that neighborhood real hard. And Larry got to watch all that with us. And you know when you're kids and you see that easy money coming in it. How do you say, it's enticing.

[Sean Flynn]

Yeah. Antonio and Wade got into the Game, too. Started selling, started making that easy.

[Wade]

Money. It was all about being cool. That really was the motivating factor behind all of that, was just to be cool. The girls liked the cool, thuggish bad boys, so that's what we became. You feel bulletproof. You know, at 18 and 19, I thought I was grown and I knew what I was doing. I had no.

[Sean Flynn]

Clue. But neither of them lasted very long in the game. Wade got arrested when he was still in his late teens. And then he got called over to his grandmother's.

[Wade]

House. And when I got there, I thought somebody had died, because there was a lot of people there, a lot of people. And by this time, I don't even know who I am. I just. I'm getting in a lot of trouble. So I got out of the car, and as I'm walking in the yard, I see both of my grandmothers sitting beside each other, my paternal and my maternal grandmother. So something has to be wrong for both of them to be here. My paternal grandmother, she just had a way of speaking to your soul. I have an older brother that was in prison at the time. And she said, so your brother on his way out and you on your way in, huh? It was the disappointment, the dissatisfaction, the disgust, the. The hurt that I seen in her face and in. In her eyes. That's what really got to me. So, yeah, that was. That was it for me. That was my first and last time getting in.

[Sean Flynn]

Trouble. Antonio was out soon.

[Antonio]

After. So one of the last times I went to jail, I told the police officer, hey, I gotta call my mom, right? And he come down on me real hard. Oh, you a gangster. You badass, you. This and that and that and that. And look at you wanting to call your mom. And I told him, I said, well, my mom's disabled. If I don't call her, she's gonna stay up all night worrying, and she's gonna make herself.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Sick. And.

[Antonio]

He. And he looked me in my eyes, and he told me, he said, do you think you're. Some of the problem? Sat in there a week, the city jail in Freeport. Thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking about it. He was right. That was enough for.

[Sean Flynn]

Me. He wasn't even in there on a drug charge. In fact, Antonio's never been arrested for.

[Antonio]

Drugs. I just got lucky myself and never got caught in some of the things I've done. And Larry, I guess, didn't have that kind of.

[Sean Flynn]

Look. No, he did.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Not. Honestly, I kind of lost.

[Sean Flynn]

Track. Here's.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Gabe. But I do recall him in and out, in and out. It was all drug related charges and maybe it's some probation violations. The first time Melinda met him was us going to Brazorie County Jail and me talking to him behind the glass because he was locked up. I'm like, hey, this is my fiance Melinda. And she's like, hi. You know, waving behind the.

[Sean Flynn]

Glass. So maybe Larry didn't have Antonio's luck, but he also had different circumstances, different incentives, different talents. Let's start with the talents. Larry was good at the game. He'd moved on from slinging a pocket full of rocks on a street corner. That's retail, the drug trade equivalent of working the counter at 7:11. By the late 90s, he was working with larger quantities of weed and cocaine and cash. And he'd moved into manufacturing, which is what law enforcement calls it when you cook butter cocaine into crack. And the reason we know he was good at it is that despite his well known reputation, despite what his family and friends knew, his criminal record at that point reflected none of.

[Antonio]

It. He wasn't just good at that. Larry was good at taking care of business. You know, he. He was good at taking care of things. You know, he was going to make it happen regardless, you know, that. That I could say about him. He was gonna get by and he was gonna make sure that everybody that rode with him was gonna be okay.

[Sean Flynn]

Too. In the beginning, it was all an adolescent goof. Remember that movie they all watched South.

[Wade]

Central? We a deuce, don't fuck with.

[Sean Flynn]

Deuce. Kids playing gangster. But Larry's not acting out a movie anymore. He has real responsibilities, people depending on him, people to take care of. Larry is now the man of the family, fractured though it might be. Gabe's off working corrections. His father's a.

[Antonio]

Wreck. Remember, his dad was a heavy drinker. We were over there quite a few times. And his dad was going through some difficult times. And Larry had to be the adult in the house. You know, he was there by himself, just him and his dad. Everyone else was.

[Sean Flynn]

Gone. While Larry is keeping tabs on his dad, he's also raising two daughters. Kissy, his girlfriend, who would become his wife, was pregnant with someone else's baby when they first got together. Nadlin, who Larry would raise as his own, was a toddler. And then Larry and Kissy had a daughter together. Larissa, who's 11 months younger than.

[Wade]

Nadlin. The pinnacle of the point on his legacy is taking care of his family, home, his.

[Antonio]

Household. That was.

[Wade]

It. That was probably the motivating factor for everything that he did was making sure that my sister and them kids were all right, were taken care.

[Sean Flynn]

Of. And finally, there's Alicia, Larry and gabe's little sister. 15 years old when she got pregnant for the first.

[Alicia]

Time. When I told Larry, he was just like, well, you're gonna have to warm it up now. Like, it's not games, you know, you gotta. You got responsibilities coming now. Poncha's family was like, hey, you gotta get a job. You got a baby to take care of. And they helped us get our own place. I learned how to cook from Poncha's mom, and she's the one that told me, look, if this is what y' all are gonna do, you're gonna. Y' all are gonna live together. This is how it needs to be. I'm playing Susie Hellmaker. At the age of 15. It's definitely. It was hard because I was still a kid.

[Sean Flynn]

Myself. Alicia had already dropped out of school, as had Larry and Ponch. They would all eventually get their GEDs. But in the moment. Alicia. Teenaged Alicia and her teenage boyfriend. They have a child to raise. It's not easy. Ponch got a job detailing cars, but it barely paid the bills. And then Alicia got pregnant again. She needed money. Her mom's out of the country. Her dad's in a depression. She doesn't want to ask.

[Alicia]

Gabe. Gabe was just. He was disappointed. I know he.

[Sean Flynn]

Was. Who's she gonna turn to? Her big brother.

[Alicia]

Larry? I was like, look, Poncha's not making enough money. We gotta. We gotta make it. You know, we got diapers, we got. We got.

[Wade]

Clothes.

[Alicia]

We. You know, we gotta pay for bills. So Larry kind of took us under his wing and showed us the game, as they call it. And he was like, okay. He's like, I'm gonna put you on. And so, sure enough, we started selling crack.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Cocaine. This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability, and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don't sleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, a medicine.

[IBM Spokesperson]

Company. So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage. On top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages. Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business. Lets create smile to business.

[Pets Best Spokesperson]

IBM. Your pet is your bestie, your therapist, your perfect match. It's easy to love them. It's easy to protect them too with pet insurance coverage from Pets Best because it's all fun and games until they chew on something they shouldn't and you get a vet bill to match. With perfect timing, Pets Best helps protect your furry friend and your budget from this imperfect world. Get up to 90 cash back on eligible vet bills from less than a dollar a day. Pets Best has plans to cover accidents, injuries and more, from puppies and kittens to seniors. Find your perfect match plan and get a [e-mail] Pet insurance products offered and administered by Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC or underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company or Independence American Insurance Company for terms and conditions, visit www.petsbest.com. policy products are underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company, Independence American Insurance Company or Ms. Transverse Insurance Company and administered by Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC. $1.00 a day premium based on 2024 average new policyholder data for accident and illness plans. Pets Age 0 to.

[LifeLock Spokesperson]

10 tis the season for identity theft. This time of year most of us are checking off our holiday gift lists. But guess what? Identity thieves have lists too and your personal information might be on them. Protect your identity with Lifelock. Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second and alerts you to threats you could miss by yourself even if you keep an eye on your bank and credit card statements. If your identity is stolen, your own US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. And all plans are backed by the million dollar protection package. The last thing you want to do this holiday season is face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or other financial losses from identity theft all alone. Make this season about joy, not identity theft. With Lifelock, save up to 40% your first year. Call 1-800-LIFELOCK and use promo code iheart or go to lifelock.com iheart for 40% off.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Terms. Apply Spinquest Social Casino the presents are open and you're over the in laws. It's a perfect time to grab your phone and play spinquest.com with live dealer, blackjack, crafts and a ton of slots. And here's a great deal for the holiday a $30 coin pack for $10. And if you're hearing this ad you can play right now on SpinQuest.com.

[Sean Flynn]

SpinQuest is a free to play social casino Boyd where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details. Larry taught Alicia and her boyfriend how to make crack in their kitchen. It's not complicated. You basically boil cocaine and baking soda and then let it harden into something you can break into. Smokable retail.

[Alicia]

Rocks. When, when we started making it, the money was coming in. We got a cars, jet skis. We were doing pretty good when it came to money. I mean we were this close to a person signing over their deed to a two bedroom home for.

[Sean Flynn]

Us. Also there was weed. Alicia was selling that too. Gabe has never heard any of this. He's standing nearby as Alicia's telling me this story. And I expect him to be shocked, maybe even a little hurt because what she's saying is appalling. His brother taught his little sister how to commit multiple felonies that could have put her in prison for decades. And yet he seems amused because it's also kind of sweet. Keep in mind that at that time in his life, mid-20s, Gabe is not impressed with his siblings life choices. Maybe even disappointed as Alicia put it. Larry and Alicia are both high school dropouts. Larry is in and out of jail and Gabe tried to bring Alicia to Abilene so she wouldn't become, well, what she became. An unwed teenage mother with a boyfriend who details cars. And now, more than 25 years later, there's this wrinkle. Sure, maybe Larry was by some measures a fuckup, but he was loyal, protective. He was trying honestly and sincerely to help his little sister in the best way, maybe the only way he knew how. There is decency in that. It may have been misguided and it was most definitely illegal, but maybe there was a touch of nobility too. In the middle of all this, when Gabe is working at the jail in Abilene, Larry pays him a little surprise.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Visit. And he's still wearing blue and you know, he's still, you know, they're still claiming Crips and I just kind of saw him evolve and I knew he's still, he's in the dope game. A lot of people in that area were involved in the dope game and selling crack.

[Sean Flynn]

Cocaine. Gabe is surprised to see his brother because he hasn't known Larry as the sort to make a six hour drive from Brazoria County. But again, Gabe didn't know everything going on at home. Didn't know who Larry was running with, didn't know where Larry was coming from or going to and it's just as well, really, that Gabe didn't know any of that. He was still working in the jail, but he was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Restless. Neil wanted to go out into the field and work the.

[Sean Flynn]

Streets. He wanted to be a cop. And how many details does a wannabe cop really want to know about his little brother, the street corner crack dealer? As it happened, there was another jailer, older guy, late 50s, maybe 60, who started working around the same time as Gabe. His name was J.C. he looked.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Like a guy off a tombstone, but he had the handlebar mustache, gray hair. He looked kind of weathered, but a guy you knew that you didn't want to mess with. I remember JC Asking me, he said, gabe, what are you doing here? And I was like, what do you mean, what am I doing here, man? I just got out of the Air Force. I needed to.

[Sean Flynn]

Job. JC had already had a long career in law.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Enforcement. He said, this is a retirement job for me. And he said, gabe, you're too young and you're too sharp to be working in the jail. You've got a lot of potential. Have you ever thought about applying to dps? And I was like, I don't know that I've ever heard of.

[Sean Flynn]

Dps. DPS is the Texas Department of Public Safety. It's the umbrella agency for all state level law enforcement like the Texas Rangers and the Highway Patrol, and law enforcement related things like the crime lab and driver's licenses. It's big, but in the moment, JC Was thinking only about the highway.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Patrol. He said, gabe, next time a trooper comes in here, I think you should talk to him and ask him about the job, because I think he'd be a great state.

[Sean Flynn]

Trooper. Not long after, a trooper came into the jail with somebody he'd arrested.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He basically explained everything to me and he said, if you're interested, I've got an application out in the car. And you've got two weeks to have it completed and turned in to meet the deadline for the next recruit school. So we go out to his car, get the application. It must have been 100 pages, or at least it seemed like 100 pages. I take this home and I start filling this out. And my wife is like, what are you doing? I was like, I'm filling this out to be a state trooper. She's like, what's a state trooper? And I'm trying to explain to her what dpi I didn't even know, you know, earlier that day. And I'm like, babe, I'm gonna get a $15,000 a year pay raise. I was making $20,000 a year at the time, so that was almost, you know, double what I'd be making. And so it just. A lot of it was financially motivated, but it was also something that I knew I wanted to do. I wanted to be out in the.

[Sean Flynn]

Street. State troopers, for the most part, are not kicking down doors and busting cartels and sending bad guys to prison. They do a lot of traffic enforcement, speeders, drunks, car wrecks, and a lot of them work in rural areas because those highways need to be patrolled, too. But for Gabe, it's a rung, a couple of rungs up the law enforcement ladder. And his application, it was.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Good. And that's how I ended up going to the Academy in.

[Sean Flynn]

1999. And then where were you posted your first.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

One? So my first duty station was Lake Jackson.

[Sean Flynn]

Texas. Lake Jackson is in Brazario county, the place Gabe thought he'd left for good more than seven years.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Earlier. I've been gone for a number of years, so yes, it was a homecoming. Things changed. I knew that at some point I was gonna encounter a lot of people that I knew, you know, family members, people I grew up with. And how was I going to deal with.

[Sean Flynn]

That? That's next time on the Brothers Ortiz SA. The Brothers Ortiz is a production from Campside Media in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Brothers Ortiz was written, reported and hosted by me, Sean Flynn. Lane Rose is our senior producer. Story editing by Audrey Quinn. Sound design mix and engineering by Garrett Tiedemann. Original music by Garrett Tiedemann. Fact checking by Savannah Wright. IHeart podcast executive producers are Lindsey Hoffman and Jennifer Bassett. Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Vanessa Grigoriadis, Adam Hoff, and Matt Sher. A special thanks to our operations team, Doug Slaywin, Ashley Warren and Sabina Mara. If you enjoyed the Brothers Ortiz, please rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. And thanks for listening. At.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Cvs. It matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of.

[Sean Flynn]

It. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night. And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here.

[Sophie Cunningham]

To fill your prescriptions and here to fill your cravings for a tasty and, yeah, healthy.

[Sean Flynn]

Snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Your community because we believe where you get your medicine.

[Sean Flynn]

Matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our.

[Sophie Cunningham]

Store. We can't wait to meet you. Store Hours Buried by Location this is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly, or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on osa.com this information is provided by Lilly a medicine.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Company. This is Julian Edelman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules. Sunday mornings I've got my game day ritual. Coffee, Lucky socks, and now new Morning Uncrustable.

[Sean Flynn]

Sandwiches. It's all about that 12 gram protein boost with the new Uncrustables Bright Eyed Berry or Up and Apple.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Flavors. Bright Eye Berries got a feisty receiver energy up an.

[Sean Flynn]

Apple. Your classic Do it all tight.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

End, soft, pillowy, packed with protein and easy enough for Gronk to grab from the.

[Wade]

Freezer. Whether you're on the couch, driving.

[LifeLock Spokesperson]

To the tailgate or heading to the.

[Sean Flynn]

Locker room, New Morning Uncrustable Sandwiches are the MVP of.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Snacks. Your new Sunday kickoff ritual starts here with new Morning Uncrustable sandwiches packed with 12 grams of protein. Janice Torres here and I'm Austin Hankwitz. We host the podcast Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories produced by Ruby Studio in partnership with Intuit.

[Alicia]

QuickBooks. We're back for season four to.

[Pets Best Spokesperson]

Talk to some incredible small business.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Owners. The big thing about working at tech is that it's ever evolving, ever.

[Sean Flynn]

Changing. Everyone's a.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Rookie. That's how fast the industry is changing. So what I'm really excited about is to be part of that change. So listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your.

[Sean Flynn]

Podcasts. Running a business is hard enough. Don't make it harder with a dozen apps that don't talk to each other. One for sales, another for inventory, a separate one for accounting. That's software overload. Odoo is the all in one platform that replaces them all. CRM, accounting, inventory, E Commerce, hr. Fully integrated, easy to use and built to grow with your business. Thousands have already made the switch. Why not you try Odoo for free at odoo. Com. That's odoo.