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Defendants convicted on a kingpin rap were not eligible for parole, period. Theres a client buzzing at the door. Jo Annie tried to picture the man who had called that morning waiting outside. 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. He worked his way through the University of Texas law school, graduating fourth in his class in 1962. Lees position in this venture was that of highly paid legal adviser for the gang of smugglers. Lee didnt protest as Clark led him out of the casino to the waiting limousine. I want to talk to you. Vivian was startled to see how much Jimmy looked like Lee, how he had grown out his moustache, how his hair was full and shaggy and touched now with streaks of gray. Lets go downstairs and give them one they can write home about. Clark said he would dress and meet Lee in the casino. [5][34] Joe Chagra served six and a half years in prison (of his ten-year sentence) and was released. What was happening here? Donna had never seen him before, but Lee said that he was expecting the man and pressed the electronic button to admit him. He left his hat and keys on the couch and walked down the hall to Lees office. The family name was originally Bushaada, but Lees grandfather mexicanized it during the revolution. [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. shaggy shag,' and he would gamble up to a million dollars," said The perfect vehicle for the imperfect time. He was really happy that all the money was gone and he had to work again. Family problems were accumulating faster than Lee could catalog them. Catherine Chagra and her two sisters, Cindy and Christa, were the darling daughters of Jimmy Chagra, the biggest pot dealer in the history of the U.S.A., and one of the kingpins of Las Vegas casinos in the 1970s. Coming as it did in the midst of his misery, Lees brilliant defense of the Ardmore bunch had to be his most satisfying victory. A third, Cynthia Jones Chagra, lives in Austin. Former mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman is credited with the revitalization of downtown Las Vegas including The Smith Center for the Performing Arts and our very own The Mob Museum. Later he built a reputation as a hard-driving prosecutor in charge of the docket in Del Rio, where he and Judge John Wood became fast friends. That was a fact. During the course of the morning, a man called the Cowboy appeared on the alley TV camera. [12] Their family name was historically "Bushaada", but Jimmy's grandfather changed it. The Mafia! A major law firm that always invited the top six UT law graduates to a spring gala invited only five in 1962. Id grown up in El Paso, Stricklin recalled. 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. But as usual, Jimmys success only threw Lee into a funk. 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. Its better to bust your ass trying and get kicked all over tomorrow than live all your life like those little gray bastards out there., A few weeks after the Vegas trip, Lee was hospitalized for a long overdue hemorrhoidectomy. 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. The family was breaking apart. I think Jerry Johnson told us whatever he thought we wanted to hear, DEA agent J.T. Someone was supposed to open the door from the inside. 2023 www.statesman.com. For the most part, 1978 turned out to be just a continuation of the long slide that had begun in 1977. Two of Chagras daughters, Christa and Catherine, now live in Smithville. Chagra could win or lose more in a single session at a Vegas crap table than Kerr made in a year. Where do you get off? Lee handed out $200 in tips before they got to the suite. [15], Chagra's drug dealings came under close scrutiny by law enforcement and the judicial system. Liddy came up with one farfetched idea after another. Lee and Joe began to consider filing a harassment suit against Wood, Kerr, and various federal agents. Chagra: The King of Dope Drugs, Deceit and Dirty Darlings, WATCH: Indiana father arrested on live TV after toddler is seen with gun. In secret interviews Wallace as singing like a drunken angel. Stricklin hadnt yet met Lee Chagra, but he knew Chagras reputation. Jimmy, on the other hand, had a true gamblers instinct, a fatalistic kill-or-be-killed attitude. He had $250,000 credit. I think I was about 20 and Lee was 27 or something. He imported more high-grade ganja than anyone, tons at a time, planeload after planeload. 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. It was a partial victory for Leethe jury found De La Torre guilty of only one charge and he got the maximum, 5 years. Wood pressed on, however, announcing that the grand jury investigation concerned not only Lee Chagra and Stricklin; it also involved Sib Abraham and others. When Joe and Lee had drawn up their partnership, the arrangement was that they would share all revenues and losses, but Joe hadnt counted on sharing Lees gambling losses. He had several of the bracelets made for close friends and members of the family. 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. Two of their five children were with her. In these pictures shes 9 or thereabouts. But let me add, he had a lot of enemies.. He was a fanatic about his family: he lavished gifts on his wife, his children, his mother, his sister. The case had been dead for two years, but Kerr had a plan. The next morning FBI agents called on Lee Chagra, confiscated his gun collection, and asked him to take a lie detector test. Whats more, Kerr and Wood and the entire apparatus of the federal government were breathing down his neck. I cant practice in front of you, and I dont think you can honestly say that you can treat me or my client fairly in any court, Chagra told Wood. Joe was quieter and more introspective than his brothers. Texass Most Venomous Caterpillar. Loaves of Syrian bread were baking in the kitchen. To get to that part of the story, we have to go back in time, to the war on drugs that Richard Nixon initiated, and to three brothers in El Paso of Lebanese descent by way of Mexico. His idea of a good time was going home to his wife and newborn son, Joseph, maybe tinkering with his stereo or waxing his speedboat, swimming or lifting weights. Lee turned the channel selector to the camera over the alley entrance. Marriage license #D875871, Marriage License Records, Las Vegas. Borrowing heavily from Kerrs own wording, Wood totally agreed: This request appears to be primarily an effort by the defense attorney to obtain reports of an investigation pertaining to him. He was going to play baccarat instead of craps. David Long? Lee said. Woods first big drug case came in May 1971. Donna helped Sandy count the $20,000. Jack Stricklin met him at the airport and drove him to the office. [9] The story surrounding the assassination of Judge Wood was profiled in an episode of City Confidential. Lee and several others heard the crash of metal against the patio door. And hes this huge drug kingpin. The money was in the canvas tennis bag under the sink. Wood was apparently confusing the fifty-page transcript of the secret interview with actual grand jury testimony. Patsy, the second, was the miracle baby, born against all odds and medical opinions; on the morning of her birth Abdou walked barefoot to the summit of Sierra del Cristo Rey and dropped to his knees and thanked the Virgin. [7] He had a $1 million mansion in Las Vegas. Prosecutors suspected Jimmy Chagra, and the FBI began meticulously putting its case together. By New Years Day it was the top story in town, and the defendants were being called the El Paso Ten. Written by Catherine Chagra, He got 30 years. They were making a career, or at least a crusade, of trying to prove that Lee Chagra, master criminal lawyer, was in fact master criminal. The greatest job of bullshit advocacy Ive ever seen, Clark Hughes said of Lees performance. Catherine Chagra was the daughter of Jimmy Chagra, a Las Vegas high-roller and drug trafficking kingpin once named the Pablo Escobar of weed. After her father He unlocked the door to his private bath. He helped develop Operation Intercept, a massive media event in which millions of U.S. citizens were stopped and searched at the border. Catherine Chagra Patrick Beach View Comments 0:00 0:56 Last December, we brought you the story of Catherine Chagra, daughter of Jamiel Jimmy Chagra, the Lee never forgot or forgave. No, you got it backwards, Lee said when he saw it. Reporters flocked to the federal courthouse to get a look at what was happening to Lee Chagra. A front-page headline in The El Paso Times virtually screamed the news that the flamboyant kingpin had been nabbed. She dismissed the greeting as a typical Sailor Roberts lie: she didnt believe for a second that hed gone out of his way to wish her anything. By maintaining close ties to Democratic Party kingmaker Travis Johnson, Boyd had run the gamut of offices: assistant county attorney, assistant U.S. attorney, district attorney, U.S. magistrate. The judge said he had spent eight or ten hours reading Jerry Edwin Johnsons 1976 grand jury testimony and the transcript of the IRS investigation. Lee grabbed an old musket, the only gun in the house, and several of the poker players chased two black men across a field before losing them along the river. It took three days for an ingenious pulley apparatus to hoist the 100-pound bales to the top of the cliffs. The case remains unsolved. Im gonna take the joint apart., Caesars Palace dispatched a Learjet, and in less than two hours a limousine deposited them at the casino door. But she wasnt about to inquire; nothing brought Lee down faster than the slightest hint that he might somehow be beholden to Jimmy, even temporarily. Most high rollers would think a 9-year-old would cramp their style, but he took me everywhere.. 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. Of course, not all the authorities are so blas. Boyd had never been regarded as a crusader, but one exception was his views on gamblinghe hated gamblers. A known gambler and hit man, Harrelson had apparently been cleared in the Wood murder. His dream was to stash away $20 million, all taxes paid. [33] His wife was never released and she died in custody of ovarian cancer at age 41. These people used to steal, a Mexican policeman told the Associated Press recently, but there is more money in contraband. In fact, the only indictments handed down by the racket-busters involved a Bandido who resisted arrest after FBI and DEA agents kicked down his door, a former manager of the Lamplighter Club, a city judge charged with fixing parking tickets, and bail bondsman Vic Apodaca, who was charged with income tax violations. I knew he was dying, Catherine Chagra said. The real show was on the casino floor in special sections roped off for the Chagras. Lees law practice never recovered. Jimmy preferred the Sinatra penthouse with its white baby grand piano and spiral staircase. When the items are small, such as bottles of American perfume or jewelry, the fayuqueros hire old women called chiveras (shepherds), who actually carry the merchandise across the bridge and as far as Chihuahua City, 236 miles into the interior. Another indisputable fact. Lee Chagra by some of his fans was murdered in his office and robbed of some $450,000 that might have been intended for a mob boss. 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. Its good business for everybody.. WebAfter Joe was killed, the bad publicity inevitably returned, so Patty took their daughter, Samantha, a seventeen-year-old high school honor student, to all the television stations in Lees finances were in shambles, but he still had plenty of credit in Las Vegas. Patsy tearfully asked for respect from the press during the crisis. A blast of double-aught buckshot and .30-caliber slugs ripped across the hood, left fender, and windshield of the car: police officers later counted nineteen bullet holes. Chagra argued that the indictment smacked of double jeopardy, but there was no way he could prove it until the government got specific. About four oclock Bobby Yoseph returned to the office from a shopping trip in Jurez. Lee was preoccupied this morning. Almost every one of Chagras clients who had been sent to prison reported visits from DEA agents who pumped them for information about Chagra and offered deals if they would incriminate him. Jo Annies own family, the Abrahams, had considerable wealth, and she continued to collect antiques and preserve an extravagant lifestyle. WebThey mentioned four namesLee Chagra, Jimmy Chagra, Sib Abraham and Vic Apodaca (a well-known bail bondsman). A ton of marijuana is no better or worse than a ton of quicksilver. The staff knew the ritual, but no one knew for sure what went on behind the closed door. 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. Through it all, he had somehow clung to the central fact in his life: Lee Chagra was a topflight criminal attorney. 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jimmy chagra daughters
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