A rigorous and lengthy investigation into the murder brought Jimmy Chagra front and center. Lee gave the Cowboy $10,000, and the others guessed that he was a collector for some bookie. All the drawers were open and papers were scattered on the floor. Lee had already made a name for himself before he began taking drug defendants, but the string of cases that would make him one of El Pasos most famousor infamousfigures began in the early seventies when U.S. customs agents busted a smuggler from Tennessee named Tom Pitts and two other men who were attempting to bring six hundred pounds of marijuana across the Rio Grande. Written by Catherine Chagra, They implicated Lou Esper as the man who had planned the heist and supplied the weapons. He and Clark went back to the suite for a while. He sat next to a lawyer who worked for one of El Pasos established firms in one of the high-rise glass towers that dominate the downtown district. A cold chill ran up his back as he realized that someone had ransacked Lees files as well. Lee despised Kerr, and Kerr had every reason to despise Lee. The weapons existed only in the agents imagination, but at one point the trap got so bizarre that the poor cafe owner believed he was negotiating for a used submarine. Jimmy, on the other hand, had a true gamblers instinct, a fatalistic kill-or-be-killed attitude. the Mortal Mustache, a.k.a. The feds reasoned that Lee was the mastermind because Lee was so smart, and they became so preoccupied with this scenario that they failed to see the obvious irony: Lee was too smart to play that role. He earned a lot of money and became a high roller in Las Vegas, known for his very generous tipping. Gambling and women, said Lees old friend and fellow lawyer Clark Hughes. The pit boss shooed the sheep away from table that Lee selected for his private performance. 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. [14], Prior to his arrest, he accumulated approximately $100 million in various bank accounts, today amounting to about $500 million. [21] Facing life for smuggling, Jimmy Chagra allegedly decided to have the judge killed. Several times Lee talked to Vivian and others about dying. Like Julius Caesar, John H. Wood was several times offered high office, and several times he refused. shaggy shag,' and he would gamble up to a million dollars," said They landed the high-priced weed at a deep, remote cove on the northeastern point of Massachusetts Bay, near Boston. Yosephs gazed moved around the room. Chagra and Wood were on a collision course that was bound to end in catastrophe. How come when Im winning you let me do anything I goddam please, but when I lose you wont let me out of the trap? he shouted in a voice that could be heard in the coffee shop on the opposite side of the casino. He began taping most of his telephone conversations and collecting every scrap of evidence that even hinted of government malfeasance. His older brother Lee was a very prominent defense attorney Jimmy was the middle son, and the younger son, Joe, was also an attorney.. Someone was supposed to open the door from the inside. As Lee reached for the dice, he recited a spiel that was also part of his ritual. Narcotics agents believed that Stricklin and his associates supplied a good part of the South and Southwest with Mexican marijuana. All of Lees personal affairs, especially those with women, were conducted behind closed doors. Lee developed a standard ploy he secretly taped the conversation, then gave the agent the phone number of the real Mr. Big. It was the unlisted number of the local DEA chief. 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. Jimmy had given her a couple of kids and a lasting pain in the ass. About four oclock Bobby Yoseph returned to the office from a shopping trip in Jurez. [21], Chagra was released from prison for health reasons in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 9, 2003. He was practically chasing ambulances. 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. Lees success in trying drug cases soon led him to meet Jack Stricklin, who had sent the Pitts case his way. He told Jimmy Salome that he was taking out a new insurance policy. He nearly bankrupted the family carpet store and maybe even helped along Dad Chagras fatal heart attack. 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. Two of Chagras daughters, Christa and Catherine, now live in Smithville. Where do you get off? So Jimmys smuggling operation must be thriving as Lees law practice crumbled. For all the smoke generated by James Kerrs highly publicized grand jury probe of organized crime, there was hardly any fire. Lee gave Jack Stricklin, now out of prison, $1000 and passed out lesser amounts to other old friends. Fighting seemingly hopeless causes became his passion. 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. It was the first time anyone from El Paso had thought of using a tramp steamer. The rest of it, he said, his voice sure and unwavering, represents not guilty. I thought it was just an isolated thing, one player said, but Lee kept brooding about it. During the course of the morning, a man called the Cowboy appeared on the alley TV camera. Lee didnt seem at all depressed, said Donna Johnson, the law firms bookkeeper. In fact, the charges were dismissed because there was no evidence to bring charges in the first place. 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. 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. And even if it was true, for Wood to reveal it in open court was outrageous. With Redd Fox. He said he would meet her at home in a couple of hours. 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. Finally, he would pose with the ebony cane with the gold satyrs-head handle, squinting and turning until he was satisfied. With the agent providing invaluable assistance at every stage, Renteria and several others were drawn into the government trap. A front-page headline in The El Paso Times virtually screamed the news that the flamboyant kingpin had been nabbed. Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. It was during this period that Lee was introduced to Mickeys black sheep uncle, Lou Esper, a pale, seedy, rat-faced Syrian hoodlum who had spent about half his fifty years in prisons. Jimmy preferred the Sinatra penthouse with its white baby grand piano and spiral staircase. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. It was his most important victory in monthsand his most profitable. If you scratched Stricklin deep enough, Kerr reasoned, you would find Chagra. He swore he did not put out a hit on Maximum John H. Wood Jr., the federal judge in San Antonio presiding over a case that could have sent Jamiel Jimmy Chagra to prison for life. Jimmy was just talking. Clark was painfully aware that all serious gamblers harbored deep and irrational superstitions: once hed seen Lee go berserk because a Chinaman approached the table. Drugs are currently in fashion, but over the years whiskey, cigarettes, perfume, Swiss watches, silver, kitchenware, and of course, laborers have been staples in the trade. The next year he paid taxes on $450,000, including $125,000 declared as gambling winnings. Lee was preoccupied this morning. There were at least twenty lawyers for the defense, but apparently the entire burden of prosecution fell on poor Kilcrease. The months of suspicion and hostile publicity almost wrecked Lees law career. Donna hadnt seen him this happy in months. As the family walked away from the cemetery, Jimmy caught up with Vivian and took her arm. [39], Chagra married his third wife, Lynda Ray, while living under the name James Madrid on November 22, 2005. The 38-year-old prosecutor had given up his apartment in El Paso and moved back to San Antonio, where he felt more comfortable. Jimmy and his new business partner, Henry Wallace, were in Florida awaiting their first freighterload of Colombian marijuana, and from what Lee had heard, the operation had all the earmarks of a disaster. 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 You help us and well help you, the agents told Stricklin. Patsy heard the bells from St. Patricks Cathedral in the next block and remembered Mom Chagra. One time she wrote about sports. After a while Clark said, You must have dropped close to half a million back there. It was hard to imagine two men more different. A block from the cathedral, on North Mesa at the edge of the downtown business district, Lee Chagras new office building was closed for good. If Stricklin cooperated, they would work for his early release. By law, the interview was to remain a secret, known only to a handful of agents and prosecutors who read the transcript as part of their official duties. [36][37] However, his sister Patsy stated that he was not in the witness protection program at the time of his death. 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