(CBN News)- Growing up in Leisure City, Florida was anything but easy for Rene Martinez, also known as “Level.” “I grew up without a dad,” Martinez told CBN News. “My mom was in the streets. [She] was into the Santeria, which is like a form of witchcraft, sacrificing animals all over me as a kid and I started seeing demons. They haunted me my whole life.”
When Level turned 12, that darkness led him into a life of crime, which included breaking into homes, stealing guns and getting involved in drive-by shootings. In 1990, he started a gang known as the Latin Syndicate. “We had almost like 300 members and feds were investigating us,” he said. “Half of my homies are in prison. Half of them are dead.” Level said he came face-to-face with death numerous times. READ MORE
