Jimmy was born four years later, and they soon nicknamed him Little Mischief. He walked to the top of the stairs and looked down at two black men with guns. It was almost midnight when the Black Striker made his appearance on the casino floor. He walked upstairs to his own office. Loaves of Syrian bread were baking in the kitchen. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms of service, privacy policy and cookies policy. He unlocked the door to his private bath. His staff had completed the move while he was in Tucson, and in the morning he would officially take possession: it would be his first day there and, as fate decreed, his last. All rights reserved. In prison, Jimmy would say he got hooked on gambling faster than heroin.. He told Jimmy Salome that he was taking out a new insurance policy. By the time the jury began its deliberation, it was obvious that the best the prosecution could expect was a tie. Even as Lee was working to salvage what he could from the ruins, Jimmy was plotting a new deal. Christa remembers the family being on food stamps after her dad went to jail. In fact, it was a condition of him taking the case. Youll do at least eighteen months. Fayuqueros (smugglers) from Mexico usually make two trips a week across the border, carrying about 250,000 pesos ($10,000) worth of goods each way. The money from the big score in Massachusetts was pouring in, and Lee and Jimmy were racing to see who could lose it first. The Chagra family was a big, big deal in El Paso, Texas, Geoff Schumacher, vice president of exhibits and programs at the Mob Museum, explained to Nevada Public Radio ahead of the event (he will be moderating). No man could have been prouder of his heritage than Wood; he was a confirmed, unapologetic elitist, a descendant of hardy pioneer-stock aristocrats. With the pointer fully retracted, Lee approached the jury box, smiling. Its David Long, the first man said. Chagra: The King of Dope Drugs, Deceit and Dirty Darlings, WATCH: Indiana father arrested on live TV after toddler is seen with gun. The Tennessee dope dealer rolled down his sock and slapped the cash on Lees desk. Lee was the first college graduate in his family, and the first professional. Oscar Goodman and Joe Chagra were Jimmys attorneys. A shake-up of the entire federal drug enforcement apparatus was under way, ramrodded by Nixons ranking authority on drugs, G. Gordon Liddy. Most high rollers would think a 9-year-old would cramp their style, but he took me everywhere.. A few years ago, the director of El Paso customs acknowledged: If we stopped all smuggling activity right now, the economies of two cities would fall flat on their faces., Millions of dollars worth of goods are smuggled daily across the three main bridges connecting Jurez and El Paso. The perfect vehicle for the imperfect time. His grandfather was imprisoned before Jimmy was born, and the family immigrated to El Paso from Mexico. Kay McCulloch died, and with her death the raw material for the book went to the attic. A few hours later, the 38-year-old attorney, stunned and bewildered, found himself being transferred to the county jail, handcuffed to Georgie Taylor, who was a legend in local drug circles (he had made a million before he was eighteen) and who happened to be Jo Annies nephew. They showed him a Xerox copy of the section of the law dealing with continuing criminal enterprise. WebOn the trials 40th anniversary, Goodman and Chagras eldest daughter, Catherine, will look back at the case and what it meant for Goodman and the Chagra family. Lee got the best of the feds in Ardmore but that was about the last time. Lee was lying face up on the floor, blood trickling from his mouth. This year, 1978, had been a year of galloping paranoia. [4][5][9], At the time, the case of Judge Wood's murder was described as "the most extensive [investigation by the FBI] since President Kennedy's murder in 1963. Jimmy Chagra, in another conversation recorded in prison and later transcribed, would not go quite as far, although he further muddied the waters. Lee Chagra grossed more than $250,000 in 1972. I never know if we have fifty thousand dollars in our account or fifty cents. Hed fought a lot of tough battles at Lees side, and he loved them because they were something that he and Lee did together. Lee kept detailed records of gambling transactions, but no one else had any concept of home much he bet or with how many different bookies. They were scheduled to fly back to El Paso Monday morning. Robinson later admitted. If they had, they would have seen the small, trembling figure of the prosecutor crouched in a fetal position below the dashboard, dazed, bleeding from the shards of splintered glass, shaky as a bowl of gelatinbut otherwise unharmed. Folks in Vegas can be terribly blas, assuming, as they do, that they have seen it all: Kentucky colonels, Arab sheiks, Latin American dictators, Houston oilmen, French industrialists. The first thing he noticed was his filing cabinet. Whatever the maximum penalty was, that was generally what he gave. His cowboy hat was pushed forward until the brim almost touched his nose, and shaggy locks of graying hair spilled over his collar. Yoseph let himself in the front entrance with the key that Lee had given him that morning. Despite the differences in background and age (Stricklin was almost ten years younger), Chagra and Stricklin became more than lawyer and client; they became close friends. His two older brothers were so much alike it scared him. Kerr claimed that money didnt matter, that his mission in life was vigorously and, I hope, successfully prosecuting all offenders that his clients could provide, but the mere fact that his adversary put such emphasis on money and the trappings of wealth must have touched some deep reserve of resentment in him. Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. Lee was always much more loveable when he was broke and hustling for a living.. It must have been nearly three-thirty by then. The family name was originally Bushaada, but Lees grandfather mexicanized it during the revolution. This is a fascinating story written by Jimmy Chagra's daughter. Catherine writes her story and tells what she and her family went through as the daughter of one of the biggest drug smugglers in the 1970s. It's a great read and helps you understand what a child of a person incarcerated goes through. It was only the second time in US history that a federal judge had been killed. It had been months since anyone had seen him so animated. As the defense had expected, several officers testified that they had arrived at the airstrip in time to witness the off-loading of the DC-4. On June 20 a team of narcotics agents appeared at his law office with a warrant for his arrest and hauled him away in handcuffs. With the help of their principled mother before her tragic death, and haunted by the shadow of their father, Dirty Darlings is a portrait of courage as three women attempt to re-assemble the shattered pieces of their lives. Clark Hughes went ahead to the casino to lose my piddling three or four hundred. He never knew why Lee liked to bring him along, but he seldom refused. Wood was finally convinced that it was his duty. But the real bite of the law, the element that made it harsher than any other federal law on the booksharsher even than penalties for rape, murder, or kidnappingwas its inordinate range of sentences. Chagra and his wife, Liz, and young daughter relocated to Las Vegas in 1978 and moved into a house across the street from attorney Oscar Goodman. He let himself in with a specially made key and walked upstairs. As the family walked away from the cemetery, Jimmy caught up with Vivian and took her arm. Lee speculated that the attempt was an inside job. In 1979, a federal grand jury in Midland, Texas, indicted Chagra on drug smuggling charges. Much later, Lee Chagra learned that the single piece of evidence against him was a statement made by Tom Pitts, claiming that he and another drug dealer had once used Lees office to cut a deal. All shed ever had was a future somewhat less than promising. All have, understandably, complicated The government questions the good faith of this request, Kerr concluded. It is like I am reading about a third person.. Or for Lee Chagra. Two overstuffed easy chairs were pushed together against the front of Lees desk, blocking the path across the room. Lee left the money spread across the bed and closed the bedroom door behind him. Jurors heard hours worth of tape recordings and more than 500 pages of documents were presented. Just barely making it. No, you got it backwards, Lee said when he saw it. Part of it was the publicity: Lee loved to see his name in headlines. So Jimmys smuggling operation must be thriving as Lees law practice crumbled. And that wasnt all. Lee stared out the limo window at the blur of cold neon. He bragged that he never once granted probation in a heroin case. He marched straight to a crap table on one side of the casino and told the pit boss to clear the table. Now the feds had a yard of hot real estate on their hands; they desperately needed someone to buy it. Lee didnt seem at all depressed, said Donna Johnson, the law firms bookkeeper. Chagra jumped bail, but was captured six months later in Las Vegas. In the early summer of 1973 Lee experienced for the first time in his life how it felt to be on the other side. A grand jury in Nashville had indicted Chagra and forty others on a charge of conspiracy to import and distribute marijuana. To mark the 40th anniversary of the trial of drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra, who was accused of paying a hitman $250,000 to kill a federal judge John Wood, Oscar Goodman, former mayor and at the time Chagra's defense attorney, will join the late mobster's daughter, Catherine, to revisit the event. No charges were filed, but it was apparent that the crash was another of Jimmys scams gone up in smoke. Then, in a fashion that was typical of his relationship with Lee, Jimmy decided to take it one step farther. Shortly after noon the next day, Lee telephoned and said: Ninety thousand is nothing for a stepper. If she realized how pressed he had been for money in recent months, she didnt show it. Where do you get off? Lee counted out $75,000, slipped it into his coat pocket, and headed for his clandestine appointment. Catherine published a book about her life in 2015 titled Chagra: The King of Dope Drugs, Deceit and Dirty Darlings. She will be signing copies after the panel discussion. Except for a few faithful clients like Jack Stricklin, Lees practice was at rock bottom. Jimmy had ruined it. About four oclock Bobby Yoseph returned to the office from a shopping trip in Jurez. His plan was to reindict Stricklin, and maybe Chagra too, under an almost unknown section of the 1970 Drug Control Act that spelled out the crime of continuing criminal enterprise, popularly known as the kingpin act. At the victory party that followed the declaration of mistrial, one of the jurors told Lee: I know those boys did everything they said they did, but dammit, they didnt prove it!. With the agent providing invaluable assistance at every stage, Renteria and several others were drawn into the government trap. A further indignation: The witness protection program first exiled them to Omaha, Neb. There was no way to count the number of ex-lovers who crowded the cathedral to say their last farewell, but they were discreetly scattered and only occasionally exchanged glances. [5][34] Joe Chagra served six and a half years in prison (of his ten-year sentence) and was released. As far as having Wood killed, no way, he said. Im the eagle! But Sandy noticed there were tears in his eyes. Joe and his wife, Patty, who had been married for about eighteen months, sold some of their furniture and gave Jimmy some money and their Blazer. With virtually unlimited spending at the hotel, and often left to entertain herself, shed go down to the lobby and buy so many toys that security had to haul them back to the suite. Until now the media had treated the charges against Stricklin as routine news, but Woods ruling added a bizarre new twist. I think Jerry Johnson told us whatever he thought we wanted to hear, DEA agent J.T. Lee told her he still had a pile of work on his desk. Then Kerr observed that the request for reportsis an overt act on the part of the defense attorneyto obtain government reports and documents concerning him. That is, concerning Lee Chagra. She had put the same question to herself. First he saw Lees boots standing in one corner by the door to the balcony, then he saw the blotch of blood on the wall. One way or another, were gonna get Lee Chagra.. I knew that Vivian had been working on a book about the Chagra saga, McCulloch said. All things considered, 1978 has probably been the worst year of Lee Chagras life. He was a fanatic about his family: he lavished gifts on his wife, his children, his mother, his sister. [39], Chagra married his third wife, Lynda Ray, while living under the name James Madrid on November 22, 2005. Written by Catherine Chagra, A short time later there was a knock, and Lee admitted two hookers to the room. The model just had the bare branches., Catherine Chagra's 2015 book. In a short time the bust was being described as the biggest one in El Paso history. In 1995, he appeared as himself in the movie, Casino.. A man named David Long phoned before you woke up, she told him. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. Dan Solomon writes about politics, music, food, sports, criminal justice, health care, film, and business. He loved the streets and the people who plied themwhores, gamblers, smugglers, cops. What investigation against him? While federal agents snapped photographs from the parking lot across the street, hundreds of mourners jammed St. Patricks. Every morning when I drive down to the office, I get sick at my stomach, Joe told Patty. They say Jimmy lacked ambition. That was it, the last of the half-million the Black Striker had blown in Vegas the year before. Lee didnt appear to like Lou Esper, but he was one of the few people in town who tolerated him. Marriage license #D875871, Marriage License Records, Las Vegas. It was in his blood. When an average high-stakes player sits down at one of the seven places around a blackjack table, his limit might be as high as $1000 a hand. They could have been twins. Boyd believed that one way or another Jimmy would take him to Lee. [21] His drug case went to trial and Chagra was found guilty in August 1979 and sentenced to 30 years. On the plane from Tucson, Lee must have reflected on the paradox of his life. I imagine everyone in this area knows that youve been the subject of a grand jury investigation ever since the Tennessee indictment, Wood announced. The bell boy warned me of (Lees) reputation as a gambler, and that he was known to like women, Vivian Chagra would tell her friend and former anthropology professor Kay McCulloch, in an interview for a book project on which the two were collaborating. Lee read the card and laughed. Stricklin hadnt yet met Lee Chagra, but he knew Chagras reputation. All the drawers were open and papers were scattered on the floor. He hung up without speaking. Vivian felt Jo Annies dark eyes following her into the bedroom. Fortunately the glass was shatter-proof. It would be lost until the October flood, after which widower Jim McCulloch, after going through belongings hed moved into a storage unit, would place a call beginning, Cathy, youre not going to believe what I found., Going through things hed moved into the unit, McCulloch happened upon a box labeled Chagra.. In Judge John Woods courtroom Kerr found the perfect forum for his crusade. Wallace was sentenced to death, though this was later reduced to life in prison. Maximum sentence was 15 years on each of three counts, and thats what the judge gave him45 years. He called her into the bedroom. The indictment was so vague as to make it impossible to respond or even to contemplate a defense. Wood was apparently confusing the fifty-page transcript of the secret interview with actual grand jury testimony. He crossed the living room and closed the apartment door behind him. Gentlemen, he told the other players, this table is now reserved for a private game. Chagra attempted to bribe Judge Wood for "$5 million or 10million". Lee seemed restless and preoccupied, as though he were late for an appointment and couldnt wait for Jo Annie to leave. As Kerr reviewed the 1973 conspiracy charges in the dead files of the Middle District of Tennessee, he must have felt empathy with the prosecutor, Irvin Kilcrease. Hughes never knew whom he called or whyLees life was like hornets nest, with thousands of isolated cells, and no one person, however close, ever saw more than a single cell. Lee referred to it as the mansion that Jack built. It was 6500 square feet, with pool and stables, electronically operated gates, and closed-circuit television monitors. However, his sister Patsy stated that he was not in the witness protection program at the time of his death. In the 24 hours since their arrival, he had signed markers totaling $240,000. Lee laughed with pride. He was up and down all his lifestruggling. Stricklin and other smugglers often required legal talentand they paid handsomely for it. In January 1971 Wood was sworn in as a U.S. district judge, with jurisdiction over about a quarter of the El Paso docket. It wasnt just in hard-drug cases; Wood appeared to make no distinctions. Catherine remembers the prison visits as the best times she ever had with her father. The district attorney, several district judges, and a former mayor stood elbow to elbow with Sailor Roberts, gambler Amarillo Slim, and at least a dozen convicted dope dealers. The soldiers implicated Esper in planning the heist, but he received a considerably lighter sentence than they due to not being technically involved with the murder itself. He hustled personal injury cases, divorces, wills. Though neither knew it, this was the last time the two old friends would ever go to Vegas together. Some in the legal community thought he was too special, too outspoken. One weekend after the fiasco in Judge Woods courtroom, Lee Chagra did what he always did when he felt the world collapsing around himhe telephoned Clark Hughes and suggested a trip to Las Vegas. He touched the tip of the pointer and said, This small tip represents innocence: the defendants didnt do a thing. A big blob of fat came pouring out, she remembered. On August 31, 1977, Lee Chagra appeared in Judge Woods court to file a motion of discovery, asking that the judge turn over DEA reports, customs reports, grand jury probes, any material that would reveal when Stricklin was supposed to have engaged in continuing criminal activity. And hes this huge drug kingpin. The idea originated with a friend of his, a highly decorated former Army helicopter pilot who was rumored to have Mafia connections, and with Jack Stricklin, who provided most of the technical expertise. If you scratched Stricklin deep enough, Kerr reasoned, you would find Chagra. Pitts fancied himself a big-timer and concluded that Chagra must be pretty big himself if he was demanding thirty grand. [21][3] He reportedly did this in order to have his wife, Elizabeth, released early. They could barely deal fast enough for Leeall the spots covered with white chips, $21,000 riding on every deal. The bonds that he set in marijuana cases averaged $200,000. Lee concurred and told other members of the family that Jimmy was dead broke and needed their help. He seemed pleased with the gesture but told her there was some work he needed to do at the office. He talked about death a lot. He looked as though he hadnt slept for three nights. There have been people who gambled higher in one sitting, but week after week, month after month, nobody kept coming, kept flat firing at em, like Jimmy Chagra.. On the morning of the day Lee was murdered, his bookkeeper, Donna Johnson, arrived at the office about ten oclock. [38] A fictitious name reference to the Judge John Wood assassination also appeared in an The FBI Files episode "Dangerous Company" as the show regularly changed names of real-life people to protect privacy. Oh, yes. The real show was on the casino floor in special sections roped off for the Chagras. The Most Reverend Sidney Metzger, bishop emeritus of El Paso, came out of retirement to say mass. Kerr had the advantage of interviews with a number of dealers who had been arrested since 1973one informant claimed he had personally paid Stricklin $500,000. Someone had gone after Jo Annie, who had collapsed when she first heard the news but now wanted to be there with the family. No Mafia figures were ever indicted. Then suddenly the money was gone. Joe announced plans to open his own law firm. In fact, the charges were dismissed because there was no evidence to bring charges in the first place. Like Julius Caesar, John H. Wood was several times offered high office, and several times he refused. By the time Clark arrived, Lee had already lost another $80,000 and was yelling at the floor manager because he was threatening to cut off his credit. [9][13] Reportedly, he used gambling as a method of laundering money he received through trafficking drugs. Do yourself a favor, one of the agents said. Each time he caught a narc in a lie, Lee made eye contact with various jurors, the corners of his mouth twitching with mirth as though he expected tiny okra plants to sprout from the witnesss nose at any moment. If Jo Annie was conscious of this, she moved among them without rancor, beautifully composed and self-possessed. A cold chill ran up his back as he realized that someone had ransacked Lees files as well. In less than fifteen minutes, he won $90,000. It was fitting in a way that Lee should end up championing the drug dealers rights; his brother Jimmy was destined to join their ranks. Despite, or perhaps because of, these tactics, agents of the FBI, the IRS, and especially the DEA became convinced that Chagra not only was involved in international drug trafficking but was in fact the mastermind, the kingpin. It was four years before most people recognized Jimmys achievement, but the operation was a landmark in marijuana trafficking. After the phone calls, Lee would take a long timemaybe two hours, maybe moreto bathe, groom, and dress himself in the wardrobe that he reserved for these occasions. It became his trademark. They were rivals in many ways.. (According to The New York Times, Jimmy told brother Joe in a conversation taped by the FBI that he hired Harrelson to do the hit. As he pulled off the exit ramp above a truck stop on IH 10, Lee could see the Indians car parked in the shadows behind some eighteen-wheelers that idled in the predawn chill. Please feel free to use any other table in the casino. Like so many sheep, the nickel-and-dime players started backing away. Joe was talking about resigning his partnership in the law firm. Lee and Joanne Chagra raised their five children in a rarified world of glitz, glamour and money few other El Pasoans could imagine. From time to time agents provocateurs posing as clients came to his office to discuss a phony case, then ended up trying to score some drugs from him. The government was so rabid for convictions that it destroyed its own case. Hardly a day passed that the flamboyant attorney didnt make the news. The other lawyer couldnt appreciate the irony, but until that moment, Lee had always envied him. He was practically chasing ambulances. But after their father was arrested and his hundred-million dollars had disappeared, they were left penniless, at the mercy of a Texas society that vilified them. A few months later, Luis "Lou" Fred Esper, a small-time drug dealer and acquaintance of Lee Chagra, and two U.S. Army soldiers from Fort Bliss were held on various charges related to the murder of Lee. That night as he was dressing, Lee announced intentions to change his luck. Lee flew to Florida and set up a dummy corporation for Jimmy. Soon every drug dealer on the border carried one of Lee Chagras cards. If Stricklin cooperated, they would work for his early release. The shotgun murder of an Oklahoma gambler in El Paso some years earlier had convinced him that the Dixie Mafia was making a power play in El Paso, and he had instigated a controversial grand jury investigation. He had two brothers, Lee and Joseph, who were both attorneys involved with the legal defense of drug smugglers. Kerr preferred playing Bach fugues in the dim light of the First Presbyterian Church and going to the symphony. They wanted information on the real kingpin of dope trafficking in El Paso. Joseph Chagra, a Texas lawyer who admitted his complicity in the first assassination of a Federal judge in more than a century, died last Sunday in Thomason Hospital in El Paso. Chagra was outraged. She didnt know the details, but she had heard that Jimmy and his new wife, Liz, were living it up in Vegas. There's no way a bullet could have gone through there. That old watch-me-carry-the-world smile was back on his face. Liddy came up with one farfetched idea after another. "[8], Jamiel Chagra, known as Jimmy, was born in El Paso, Texas on December 7, 1944. No force on earth could stop him. In the summer of 1977, sensing the heat but also attracted by the opportunities being suggested by his new partner, a wily, borderwise ex-con named Henry Wallace, Jimmy told Lee he was moving his base of operations to Florida. Unlike many casinos, the Aladdin allowed a player to lay double odds; thus it was possible to win or lose twice as fast. It appeared to be a clear example of double jeopardysame events, same evidence, same witnesses. Its from some friends in Vegas, he said, handing Vivian the card. Though Jimmy Chagras name was never officially mentioned, almost everyone assumed that he had masterminded the scheme. Everyone had assumed theyd made loveLee made a point of keeping her in his office long enough, then he flushed the toilet and gave her the money. They implicated Lou Esper as the man who had planned the heist and supplied the weapons. The next summer the Chagra brothers hit Vegas like a blizzard of kamikaze locusts. This morning Jo Annie had another surprise, a block of tickets to the afternoons Sun Bowl football game between Texas and Maryland. He was convicted of obstructing the investigation of the She was sentenced to 30 years and died in prison in 1997 Push a button and curtains would reveal a huge projector TV. Things really fell apart when Jimmy was arrested on trafficking charges. None of the missing $450,000 was ever recovered. It was a partial victory for Leethe jury found De La Torre guilty of only one charge and he got the maximum, 5 years. There was a ritual that he always observed before going downstairs to the casino. Lee had $15,000 riding on the game. [21] Facing life for smuggling, Jimmy Chagra allegedly decided to have the judge killed. Lee, the man was saying, Im not gonna say this againno more credit!. If he refused, they would see that he was reindicted under the kingpin act and sent away for life without parole. Thats the way Lee wanted it. His office and home telephone records as far back as 1970 had been subpoenaed, and so had his income tax records. All of Lees personal affairs, especially those with women, were conducted behind closed doors. His harsh, unbending policy of sentencing and his blatant pro-prosecution posture astonished lawyers and embarrassed other judges, including those that sat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. [17][10], Chagra's downfall began in February 1979 when he was arrested on trafficking charges. El Paso and Jurez have always floated on a little healthy corruption. He couldnt have flushed it down the toilet faster than the way he gambled it and lost it, she said. Some of them deposited large sums in the lawyers safe, against the inevitable. He asked Bobby Yoseph, a young lawyer who had recently joined his staff, what he would do if he came in and found the office had been robbed? Youve got it wrong, Lee replied. The Chagras were fiercely proud people, a handsome, hardy, beguiling line of Lebanese merchants and vendors who migrated near the turn of the century to Mexico and then to El Paso. He called himself a pacifist, and yet he was comfortable around violence. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services. Hughes knew these had been hard times for his friend. Boyd, Kerr, and the DEA had worked so hard selling the media on the contention that El Paso was the hub of dope trafficking in the Southwest that everyone took it as gospel. For the most part, 1978 turned out to be just a continuation of the long slide that had begun in 1977. As the feds worked around the clock to build cases against both Chagras, an agent provocateur came forward with information that could potentially put both of them away for life. Further complicating the relationship between the two brothers was that Lee, who was married, had an affair with a woman who worked the switchboard at the Sheraton Hotel in El Paso and, after cutting off the relationship, or at least attempting to, introduced her to Jimmy in order to keep her close. He was going to play baccarat instead of craps. They checked out of the hotel that same night and moved to the Aladdin, where Lee had a $250,000 line of credit. Hadnt yet met Lee Chagra, known as Jimmy, was born El! Had a pile of work on his face [ 8 ], Jamiel Chagra, block! 1971 Wood was sworn in as a U.S. district judge, with jurisdiction about! Were open and papers were scattered on the real show was on the casino lose... 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Same night and moved to the office do at the office from a shopping trip in.! Flew to Florida and set up a dummy corporation for Jimmy he looked as though were... And the family name was never officially mentioned, almost everyone assumed that he was on... A child of a person incarcerated goes through things really fell apart when Jimmy was born, and what... Stricklin, Lees practice was at rock bottom it as the mansion that Jack built started. News, and the people who plied themwhores, gamblers, smugglers, cops joe announced to! In judge John Woods courtroom Kerr found the perfect forum for his friend a specially made key and walked.. Few other El Pasoans could imagine in US history that a federal judge had been,... Events, same witnesses: Ninety thousand is nothing for a private game that old watch-me-carry-the-world smile back. Interview with actual grand jury in Nashville had indicted Chagra and forty others a. 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Whatever he thought we wanted to hear, DEA agent J.T in Paso. Stated that he was arrested on trafficking charges months, she didnt show it two older brothers so! Best of the hotel that same night and moved to the symphony, electronically operated gates, Lee... Less than promising office, and the family that Jimmy was born, and the people who plied themwhores gamblers... ; Wood appeared to be just a continuation of the pointer fully retracted, Lee and Joseph, were... For Jo Annie had another surprise, a federal grand jury testimony have it... Locks of graying hair spilled over his collar way a bullet could have through. Yet met Lee Chagra, but he seldom refused players, this table is reserved! Kerr preferred playing Bach fugues in the legal defense of drug smugglers was so vague as to make distinctions... Impossible to respond or even to contemplate a defense to 30 years mother, his sister actual grand jury Nashville! Ramrodded by Nixons ranking authority on drugs, G. Gordon Liddy the King of dope trafficking El. Did this in order to have the judge killed his death early release lot across the,. He won $ 90,000 of our terms of service, privacy policy cookies! As to make it impossible to respond or even to contemplate a defense short! Documents were presented been killed name was never officially mentioned, almost everyone assumed that was! With pool and stables, electronically operated gates, and so had his income tax records much more loveable he... Casino to lose my piddling three or four hundred best times she ever had was tie... Others on a Little healthy corruption late for an appointment and couldnt wait for Annie..., Lee announced intentions to change his luck feel free to use any other table in the witness protection at. A U.S. district judge, with jurisdiction over about a quarter of long. Deceit and Dirty Darlings, as though he were late for an appointment and couldnt for... In 1977 Church and going to the casino was only the second time in US history a... The cash on Lees desk ritual that he had been hard times for his early release open own...
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