 While incarcerated, he earned the respect and admiration of the members of the Mexican Mafia which was still in its development stage.According to Chris Blatchford, 

By 1961, administrators at DVI, alarmed by the escalating violence, had transferred a number of the charter Eme members to San Quentin, hoping to discourage their violent behavior by intermingling them with hardened adult convicts.It didn't work.