 The family later moved to Bakersfield, California where Cadena attended East Bakersfield High School.Cadena became a member of the Barrio Viejo Gang (now known as the Barrio Bakers).He was incarcerated at Deuel Vocational Institution after he and Richard Ruiz, who would become one of the founding members of La Eme, stabbed a man to death outside of a dancehall called 'Salón Juárez' in 1959.