Whatever Jo Annie was thinking, she wouldnt say anything. On the cartoon, Clark had written Wood below the eagle and Chagra below the mouse. Lee had $15,000 riding on the game. A division of Empire Media Group Holdings LLC. Some speculated that they omitted Lee Chagra because he was from El Paso and had a Spanish surname. (At that point the public had no inkling of the earlier, even bigger Boston haul.) [5][3], Texas Drug, Gambling Figure Missing; High Bond Forfeited, Jimmy Chagra; Smuggler Linked to Judge's Death. Esper had also observed Lee making large cash payoffs to various collectors. Lees younger brother Jimmy, who grew up hustling and hanging out with some of Lees more prosperous clients, wanted nothing more than to be recognized as Mr. Big. An electronic current unbolted the door. Later, a superseding indictment added the charge of continuing criminal enterprise. The casino was almost deserted. It had been months since anyone had seen him so animated. But let me add, he had a lot of enemies.. Lee couldnt hold a grudge, but Jimmy was the kind who would get you by the balls and never let go, said Jimmy Salome, a longtime family friend. Chagra and Wood were on a collision course that was bound to end in catastrophe. the Mortal Mustache, a.k.a. Heres Catherine Chagra with Ann-Margret. Right there before your eyes Lee Chagra became the Black Striker. Lee gave the Cowboy $10,000, and the others guessed that he was a collector for some bookie. Shortly after the Ardmore trial, DEA agents visited Jack Stricklin at La Tuna federal correctional institution, where he was doing time for a drug rap Lee hadnt been able to get him out of. Up and then down. Vivian said she didnt know. 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. It was four years before most people recognized Jimmys achievement, but the operation was a landmark in marijuana trafficking. A major law firm that always invited the top six UT law graduates to a spring gala invited only five in 1962. The fifty-page text of the interview was used as supplemental material by a grand jury investigating a tax fraud, but it was never given the slightest weight as courtroom evidence. Lee sparkled like a kid with a new toy as he showed Donna and Sandy where the various safes were concealed. Some in the legal community thought he was too special, too outspoken. He made a motion for Judge Wood to recuse (disqualify) himself in the Stricklin case. That was it, the last of the half-million the Black Striker had blown in Vegas the year before. There was plenty of cocaine to guarantee a holiday spirit; at least five ounces had been delivered a few days earlier. Patsy heard the bells from St. Patricks Cathedral in the next block and remembered Mom Chagra. The language was vague and ambiguous, but essentially it said that a person was a kingpin if he (1) committed a continuing series of violations of the drug act, in concert with five or more other persons with respect to whom such person occupies a position of organizer, a supervisory position, or any other position of management and (2) obtained substantial income or resources from those violations. His father was a vice president of El Paso Natural Gas. The family was worried about Lee. On the plane from Tucson, Lee must have reflected on the paradox of his life. [5][34] Joe Chagra served six and a half years in prison (of his ten-year sentence) and was released. The family had a late dinner. He was practically chasing ambulances. I knew he would take a hard look at narcotics and organized crime.. I thought it was just an isolated thing, one player said, but Lee kept brooding about it. Another indisputable fact. Whats it all for? he said out loud, and Vivian could see the tears in his eyes and hear the catch in his voice. In fact, it was a condition of him taking the case. I feel that it has all been terribly twisted. As Lee reached for the dice, he recited a spiel that was also part of his ritual. I have not seen anything that would actually disqualify me from trying this case. Eventually Wood agreed to give Lee a copy of the Johnson interview but refusing to remove himself from the Stricklin case as Chagra requested. Lee stared out the limo window at the blur of cold neon. Back in El Paso things werent going much better. They checked out of the hotel that same night and moved to the Aladdin, where Lee had a $250,000 line of credit. 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. Chagra attempted to bribe Judge Wood for "$5 million or 10million". The law was wide open to interpretationtailor-made for a crusading lawman like James Kerr. That was a fact. Which for Jimmy was almost the same as being broke, Patty said. 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.. Now the government was trying to prove that Johnson had helped smuggle a pound of heroin out of Mexico. Lee continued to object. All have, understandably, complicated Drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra, accused of paying a hitman $250,000 to kill a federal judge, retained Las Vegas attorney Oscar Goodman to defend him. This morning Jo Annie had another surprise, a block of tickets to the afternoons Sun Bowl football game between Texas and Maryland. After a while Clark said, You must have dropped close to half a million back there. Though neither knew it, this was the last time the two old friends would ever go to Vegas together. David Long? Lee said. Jimmy had chartered a jet and attempted to rescue an El Paso pilot who had been badly burned when a DC-6 crashed on takeoff at an improvised field near Santa Marta, Colombia. The position of federal authorities was that even though Joe Chagra was a lawyer, he was also suspected in conspiracy to conceal the crime; therefore, their conversations were not covered by attorney-client privilege. Id grown up in El Paso, Stricklin recalled. Jimmy had given her a couple of kids and a lasting pain in the ass. On top of everything else, he had developed hemorrhoids and they hurt like hell. On December 23, 1978, Lee Chagra was shot and killed in his law office in El Paso. Lee had been involved with Jimmy in his drug smuggling and the killers took $450,000 that was owed to Joe Bonanno for a drug deal. Sandy was to count out $20,000 from the stash under the bathroom sink and have it ready when the woman arrived. Lee drew a crowd simply by walking through the front door at Caesars Palace, passing out money, and asking how much they loved him. Uncle Lou, who had recently been paroled in California, had a drug habit of long standing. Maybe it will get better, Vivian said. Lee despised Kerr, and Kerr had every reason to despise Lee. [21][3] He reportedly did this in order to have his wife, Elizabeth, released early. The case remains unsolved. He discussed with the CIA the possibility of liquidating all major drug traffickers in the Middle East; it was estimated that 150 key assassinations would do the job. [10][4], Jimmy got into drug smuggling in 1969 and became one of the largest smugglers in the United States, trafficking drugs from Mexico and Colombia by plane and boat. [16], On December 23, 1978, Lee Chagra was shot and killed in his law office in El Paso. He wanted everything his brother had, but he just didnt want to work for it. Dirty Darlings Paperback November 6, 2015. Although Jo Annie appeared at the federal courthouse with $50,000 in bail money, Lee was obliged to spend the night with Georgie Taylor, Jack Stricklin, and virtually the entire hierarchy of El Paso drug trafficking. Catherine is at work on a book called Dirty Darlings: A Story of Big Shots, Big Hair, Free Falling and a Texas-Sized Return to Grace. She has the tapes and the transcripts and is determined to get her version of the family story told. Loaves of Syrian bread were baking in the kitchen. Yoseph walked behind the desk and dialed Lees home number. The next summer the Chagra brothers hit Vegas like a blizzard of kamikaze locusts. [28] Charles Harrelson got two consecutive life terms plus 5 years,[29] Harrelson's wife Jo Ann got 25 years[21] and Jimmy Chagra's wife Elizabeth was also sent to prison for 30 years for delivering the payout money. Goodman is one of the nations best criminal defense attorneys and was named one of the 15 Best Trial Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal. But his eyes spun like a blur of cherries on a slot machine. It is estimated that one out of every five households in these two communities of one million is supported by some type of illegal activity. Lee had always lived his life on the edge of respectability, goading the El Paso establishment by defending hardened criminals, consorting with known drug smugglers, and cultivating his image as the Black Striker. Though the prosecution recognized there was hardly any chance that Rick would turn on his family, James Kerr did everything in his power to put him away for 40 years. Reporters flocked to the federal courthouse to get a look at what was happening to Lee Chagra. Look at em, he grinned at the pit boss. His great-grandfather had come from New York and fought in the Texas Revolution. Two of Chagras daughters, Christa and Catherine, now live in Smithville. Joe was talking about resigning his partnership in the law firm. If she realized how pressed he had been for money in recent months, she didnt show it. He talked about death a lot. Lee Chagra was special, and he went out of his way to prove it: student court, law review, Order of the Coif. Lee was Clarks friend, maybe the best friend hed ever had, but in some strange, almost unthinkable way he felt the friendship slipping away. Its like Teddy Roosevelt always said, Lee told him, and now his smile was back in place. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. The scam brought in more money than Lee had ever thought of making in his law practice. Lee gave Jack Stricklin, now out of prison, $1000 and passed out lesser amounts to other old friends. It was only the second time in US history that a federal judge had been killed. These people used to steal, a Mexican policeman told the Associated Press recently, but there is more money in contraband. Thats the way Lee wanted it. Joe Chagra also went to prison for his role in the assassination. Dan Solomon writes about politics, music, food, sports, criminal justice, health care, film, and business. 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. It was obvious that the prosecution and the DEA had problems coordinating their investigation. Instead of flying in the customary small planeload of 2000 pounds from Mexico, they imported 54,000 pounds from Colombia. Narcotics and gambling were crimes that grew from a common stem composed of the worst elements in society. 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. Prosecutors suspected Jimmy Chagra, and the FBI began meticulously putting its case together. That woman was Vivian, Christa and Catherine and Cynthias mother, who came from humble beginnings in an unincorporated community near Brownwood. The Photo the Dallas Cowboys Never Wanted the Public to See, Welcome to Palo Pinto, Texass Next State Park, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, Please Do Not Touch the Toxic Toupee, a.k.a. This other end represents guilty beyond a reasonable doubt: the government proved its case, and you, the jury, are convinced beyond a moral certainty. Lee held the members of the panel with his eyes, pausing for a few seconds so it could all register. Until now. [21] His drug case went to trial and Chagra was found guilty in August 1979 and sentenced to 30 years. Clark Hughes had found a cartoon of a mouse shooting a finger at an eagleit was called The Last Great Act of Defianceand Lees secretary, Sandy Messer, was having it made into a wall plaque. The new office was a show of faith, or at least tenacity, and it made Lee feel good to know that someone else appreciated it. 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