jimmy chagra daughters

By early afternoon the party was over, and staff and hangers-on had gone. 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's going to be a very interesting night Jan. 18 at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. Jo Annie left the game early, and when she stopped by the office Roberts was just leaving. Goodman Jo Annie telephoned one final time, from her mothers house on Rim Road. A third, Cynthia Jones Chagra, lives in Austin. Later, Jo Annie gave him an ebony cane with a gold satyrs-head handle. I knew as soon as that happened, I didnt have a prayer. 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 Woods blunder was the last straw. 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 Chagras defense attorney, will join the late mobsters daughter, Catherine, to revisit The verdict in the Tucson trial had been sublime: in a highly publicized, multicount bank fraud indictment, Lee had walked his man on every count. Federal agents turned up at Lees office the next morning to confiscate his gun collection and question him about the unsuccessful assassination attempt. They volunteered for every hard-core criminal case that came along: murder, rape, robbery, burglary. 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. He still had $150,000 credit, but that night he went through another $70,000. By the time Lee finished dressing, Jo Annie had breakfast readyfreshly baked Syrian bread, butter, and a variety of fruit preserves. The casino was almost deserted. 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. 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!. The madness seemed to peak in November, when two men in a van sprayed Kerrs car with buckshot and .30-caliber bullets. Boyd had never been regarded as a crusader, but one exception was his views on gamblinghe hated gamblers. 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. Back in El Paso things werent going much better. Donna hadnt seen him this happy in months. After two days the jury reported itself hopelessly deadlocked, eight to four for acquittal. [39], Chagra married his third wife, Lynda Ray, while living under the name James Madrid on November 22, 2005. The tragedy was that it was all unnecessary: before the Fifth Circuit had a chance to rule on the question of jeopardy, Jamie Boyd decided to drop the continuing criminal enterprise charges against Jack Stricklin. Jimmys Florida operation, far from being an immediate disaster, disbanded after successfully offloading fifty tons of grass from a Colombian freighter in March. It was apparent from the manner in which the furniture was rearranged and toppled about that the orgies were quite vigorous. Look at em, he grinned at the pit boss. They mentioned four namesLee Chagra, Jimmy Chagra, Sib Abraham and Vic Apodaca (a well-known bail bondsman). It was that strange hour when the golfers are still on their morning rounds and the drunks are still asleep, that time when they clean the sand in the ashtrays and empty the slots and put fresh ice in the urinals. Yoseph let himself in the front entrance with the key that Lee had given him that morning. The indictment was so vague as to make it impossible to respond or even to contemplate a defense. 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. Lee Chagras funeral was a microcosm of all the extremes in his life. His father was a vice president of El Paso Natural Gas. Lee flew to Florida and set up a dummy corporation for Jimmy. Lee wanted to be head of the family, and Jimmy was constantly jealous of Lee because he stole the glory that Jimmy wanted. 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. Lee sparkled like a kid with a new toy as he showed Donna and Sandy where the various safes were concealed. Where do you get off? But let me add, he had a lot of enemies.. He always got excited the moment he felt the clamor and hysteria of Caesars but this time he was practically dancing on the walls. The judge was a member of every exclusive club in San AntonioSons of the Republic of Texas, Sons of the American Revolution, Texas Cavaliers, Argyle Club, San Antonio Club, Order of the Alamo, San Antonio Gun Club, German Club, American Legion, San Antonio Country Cluband owned property in the segregated Key Allegro resort on the Texas coastthe list went on and on. When you live that way, chances are youll die that way too. James Kerr was devoting almost all of his time to his organized-crime investigation. He had telephoned Sandy from Tucson on Friday and told her that a woman named Butch would stop by the office later in the day. I waited around to wish you and the kids a merry Christmas, the gambler told her. The old man, who was a dead ringer for Pancho Villa, was imprisoned and almost shot before he and his family could escape across the border into El Paso. He hung up without speaking. A.I think now its a separate dealIm not sure. Jimmy knelt beside the bag that now contained the remains of his brother and started bawling. Lee turned the channel selector to the camera over the alley entrance. Lee Chagra lived in the border underworld of El Paso, a place where drugs were the game and even the good guys didnt play by the rules. Jimmy had ruined it. Food, drinks, girlsanything one might fancy was there in a whisk. The Florida operation had the potential to make millions, but it could also spell disaster for Lee. Patsy tearfully asked for respect from the press during the crisis. Clark was dog tired and went straight to bed. [14], Prior to his arrest, he accumulated approximately $100 million in various bank accounts, today amounting to about $500 million. By New Years Day it was the top story in town, and the defendants were being called the El Paso Ten. You sonuvabitch, how are you gonna pay off those markers?, He took a deep draw on his cigarette and pressed Clarks shoulder. September 2022 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? 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. (At that point the public had no inkling of the earlier, even bigger Boston haul.) Goodman had represented Chagra in a previous drug case, which was undone by his client testifying. Soon every drug dealer on the border carried one of Lee Chagras cards. A second man stood behind him, out of camera range. Chagra argued that the indictment smacked of double jeopardy, but there was no way he could prove it until the government got specific. But the mere act of talking on the telephone seemed to boost his confidence. In secret interviews Wallace as singing like a drunken angel. He had started using cocaine some months earlier, and now he was using it daily. The family was breaking apart. Maximum sentence was 15 years on each of three counts, and thats what the judge gave him45 years. 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. He had no information incriminating Lee, except that he confirmed that Lee had set up some dummy corporations to launder money, but he was willing to finger Jimmy as the kingpin. Lee couldnt stop talking about Tucson. Lee joked as he gave the Indian the $75,000, and the Indian mumbled and studied his boots. It had been months since anyone had seen him so animated. His dream was to stash away $20 million, all taxes paid. Jo Annie, Lees boyhood sweetheart and the wife who had seen him through law school and nineteen years of an emotionally charged marriage, met him at the airport. Who do you think you are? The pit boss had heard the spiel many times and smiled patronizingly as he personally counted out the stacks of $500 chips. He may or may not have locked it. [15] The FBI conducted more than 30,000 interviews related to the case and in total collected more than 500,000 pieces of information. But everyone said Lee was the best. Pitts arrived at Lees office looking like a hippie who had just crawled out of a Goodwill box but acting like the owner of a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. I did not worry about a long-term jail sentence until Wood was killed, he said. He ran a floating blackjack game and started peddling dope. Lee continued to object. 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. 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. Mom would be returning from mass just about now, walking toward Lees office, unaware that anything had happened. That woman was Vivian, Christa and Catherine and Cynthias mother, who came from humble beginnings in an unincorporated community near Brownwood. Thats the way Lee wanted it. [25][21][26], Both Harrelson and Chagra's brother Joe were implicated in the assassination. The case remains unsolved. His cowboy hat was pushed forward until the brim almost touched his nose, and shaggy locks of graying hair spilled over his collar. In a short time the bust was being described as the biggest one in El Paso history. With the agent providing invaluable assistance at every stage, Renteria and several others were drawn into the government trap. the Mortal Mustache, a.k.a. Kay McCulloch died, and with her death the raw material for the book went to the attic. Lee kissed her and slipped her the money. Lee Chagra grossed more than $250,000 in 1972. Jimmy and the crew of the chartered jet were arrested by Colombian authorities. Goodman insisted that Chagra not testify. Instead, this flimsy, highly prejudicial document was destined to dog both Lee Chagra and his nemesis, Judge John Wood, to their graves. He imported more high-grade ganja than anyone, tons at a time, planeload after planeload. His dislike for narcotic cops, particularly agents provocateurs, had been stoked to a white-hot hatred that nearly consumed both his private and his professional life. [33] His wife was never released and she died in custody of ovarian cancer at age 41. The perfect vehicle for the imperfect time. Jo Annie was talking about divorce; she and Lee got as far as the courthouse steps before one or both backed out. Its David Long, the first man said. Worse than 1973, the year the federal government indicted him on a trumped-up marijuana trafficking charge in Nashville and nearly destroyed his law practice. He got 30 years. 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. Marriage license #D875871, Marriage License Records, Las Vegas. Just barely making it. Chagra was outraged. They knew about the safe in the floor of the bathroom, but there were othersone beneath the carpet near the fireplace in the living room of the private suite and another in the master bedroom. Its good business for everybody.. Joe was quieter and more introspective than his brothers. And yet by the end of the trial, a majority of the jurors refused to find the defendants guilty. He could betray a trust as casually as tipping a dealer a chip worth more than the dealer made in a month. 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. He was later tried and acquitted in the assassination but received an additional sentence for obstruction of justice. For six years now shed been divorced from Jimmy and nothing much had changed. Lee stared out the limo window at the blur of cold neon. Lee fought like hell for everything he had, but things came easy for Jimmy. When he appeared several hours later in his Black Striker ensemble, a woman asked Clark Hughes if his friend was a movie star. Kerrs long association with FBI, IRS, and DEA agentsclients, he called themhad convinced him of the same sort of monolithic conspiracy that Boyd himself leaned toward. They were all scammers, everyone he knew or cared about. It became his trademark. He once sentenced a dope dealer to 35 years for contempt of court. While it was being renovated, he occupied an office in a building on Montana owned by another lawyer friend, Mickey Esper, who was related to Jo Annie. Lee and Joanne Chagra raised their five children in a rarified world of glitz, glamour and money few other El Pasoans could imagine. The deal made guys sweating over a ton of weed loaded onto a plane and flown across the border look like chumps. Curiously, this kind of heavy action seemed to bring out the best in Jimmy and the worst in Lee. The case against Stricklin appeared to be nothing more than a rehash of the long-discredited Tennessee indictment mushed together with evidence from the deal for which Stricklin was serving time. Lee gave Jack Stricklin, now out of prison, $1000 and passed out lesser amounts to other old friends. In some ways, they said, he was like Dad Chagra, old Abdou, a man stunted by his dreams. For all the smoke generated by James Kerrs highly publicized grand jury probe of organized crime, there was hardly any fire. On May 29, 1979, the day that Jimmy was originally supposed to go on trial in Judge Woods court, John Wood was assassinated in the driveway outside his apartment. But Lee trusted him. This was among over a thousand recorded conversations that the government had collected as evidence. Even as Lee was working to salvage what he could from the ruins, Jimmy was plotting a new deal. 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. The agent had wormed his way into the confidence of one of Lees protgs, a singer and part-time actor named Joe Renteria who was hot to start his own smuggling ring. [31][32], In a deal with the federal government, Jimmy Chagra admitted to his role in the murder of Judge Wood and the attempted murder of Assistant United States Attorney James Kerr. [27] Joe Chagra's defense reportedly attempted to plead guilty to a lesser offense of conspiring to obstruct justice instead. Lee didnt protest as Clark led him out of the casino to the waiting limousine. And it was killing Lee. Hunter Thompson once described how a casino shot a three-hundred pound bear out of a cannon right in the middle of the floor and no one looked up. He made a motion for Judge Wood to recuse (disqualify) himself in the Stricklin case. He cried when he thought of Jimmy. 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. Jimmy Chagras first big score came in the summer of 75, when he orchestrated a shipment of more than 50,000 pounds of pot on a tramp steamer from Colombia to the Massachusetts coast, according to Dirty Dealing, a book about the Chagras published in 1984 by Austin author and journalist Gary Cartwright. Fortunately the glass was shatter-proof. They could barely deal fast enough for Leeall the spots covered with white chips, $21,000 riding on every deal. Stricklin hadnt yet met Lee Chagra, but he knew Chagras reputation. There was a ritual that he always observed before going downstairs to the casino. During the course of the morning, a man called the Cowboy appeared on the alley TV camera. Except for a few faithful clients like Jack Stricklin, Lees practice was at rock bottom. If the feds could compromise even a single member of the conspiracy, the whole organization might crumbleand Lee with it. Push a button and curtains would reveal a huge projector TV. Visions of the 1973 fiasco in Nashville that had almost ruined his law career danced through his mind. But Vegas had never seen anything that surpassed the performance of Lee and Jimmy Chagra. All of Lees personal affairs, especially those with women, were conducted behind closed doors. While the phone was ringing, Yoseph allowed his eyes to run along the wall to the left of the desk. While federal agents snapped photographs from the parking lot across the street, hundreds of mourners jammed St. Patricks. [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. Two of Chagras daughters, Christa and Catherine, now live in Smithville. It was in his blood. The lawyer mentioned that he sometimes looked down at the office complex that Lee was remodeling and experienced pangs of envy. Lee was the first college graduate in his family, and the first professional. Jamiel Chagra, known as Jimmy, was born in El Paso, Texas on December 7, 1944. Jimmy was born the middle son of a Lebanese rug merchant family. His mother was named Josephine, and his father Abdou Chagra. He had two brothers, Lee and Joseph, who were both attorneys involved with the legal defense of drug smugglers. Composed of, and by, organized crime. The family had a late dinner. 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