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. He had known that the DEA was watching him, but a grand jury? When Lou Esper learned that Lee was a cocaine user, he found a good supply and usually delivered the goods in person. For years there had been a rivalry between the two brothers, a fierce and unyielding competition that only the two of them completely understood. I have never found anything, he said pleasantly, in any of these grand jury investigations. 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. I colored the Kleenex sheets with green marker and I put it in the tree branches. By the time Lee finished dressing, Jo Annie had breakfast readyfreshly baked Syrian bread, butter, and a variety of fruit preserves. He walked to the top of the stairs and looked down at two black men with guns. Marriage license #D875871, Marriage License Records, Las Vegas. Chagra jumped bail, but was captured six months later in Las Vegas. Chagra laid out the cold, hard facts: I cant save you. 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. He liked to mainline speed and supported his habit by organizing a small-time burglary-robbery ring using young black soldiers from Fort Bliss. Jimmy wanted to be Lee. 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. It was four years before most people recognized Jimmys achievement, but the operation was a landmark in marijuana trafficking. 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 Patsy heard the bells from St. Patricks Cathedral in the next block and remembered Mom Chagra. For the time being, the Jerry Johnson episode played itself out in obscurity, but the Chagra name burst into the headlines in the opening days of 1977. United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, "TRIAL ON JUDGE'S DEATH HEARS ONE JAILED BROTHER DEFAME THE OTHER (Published 1982)", "Jamiel A. Chagra, 63, Drug Kingpin, Dies", "Joseph Chagra, 50, Lawyer Linked to Assassination, Dies", "Drug kingpin accused in slaying of federal judge", "Jailer recalls conversations with Woody Harrelson's father", "Las Vegas author developing documentary on drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra", "Hit man guilty in federal judge's death", "There was a murder at Christmastime 40 years ago", "Charles Harrelson, 69; father of actor killed federal judge", "Chagra Acquitted of Hiring Killer of Federal Judge", "Judge's 1979 slaying was 'crime of the century', "Joe Chagra, Convicted in Conspiracy to Kill Judge, Critically Injured", "SEARCH NARROWS IN '79 SLAYING OF U.S. JUDGE IN TEXAS (Published 1981)", "Drug kingpin Jimmy Chagra's daughter recalls his rise, fall", "Charles Harrelson Trial: 1982-83 | Encyclopedia.com", "GAMBLER IS ACQUITTED OF PLOTTING ASSASSINATION OF A FEDERAL JUDGE (Published 1983)", "Chagra enters guilty plea in Wood murder trial", "Forty years ago, U.S. District Judge Wood assassinated in San Antonio by Woody Harrelson's father", "Elizabeth Chagra, plotted to kill judge", "5 things to know about Sidney Powell, the Dallas lawyer formerly on Trump's legal team", "For Trump advocate Sidney Powell, a playbook steeped in conspiracy theories", "Newspaper says Chagra deal includes early release for wife", "Man implicated in assassination of federal judge now free", "TEXAS LAWYER ADMITS ROLE IN PLOT TO KILL FEDERAL JUDGE (Published 1982)", "Jamiel Alexander Chagra, 63; was mastermind of international drug ring", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jamiel_Chagra&oldid=1124413746, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Jimmy, Justin, Jackie, Catherine, Csilla, Christa, Cindy, This page was last edited on 28 November 2022, at 20:15. But let me add, he had a lot of enemies.. He wanted everything his brother had, but he just didnt want to work for it. Lee stared out the limo window at the blur of cold neon. Catherine moved to Phoenix about three years later to be near the federal lockup where her father did time, visiting every Sunday for 20 years. Paradoxically, though, Lee was secretly jealous of Jimmy. Not long after that, someone attempted to rob a high-stakes poker game at Jimmy Salomes house. [40][3], He had seven children, including a daughter named Catherine, who wrote a memoir about the family. Kerr had been involved with pursuing Chagra for his drug dealings. It looked as though he was set for the night. In his time, Lee had invested in a racehorse that ended up as dog meat, a pro golfer who never made the cut, a combination lock that served to secure nothing more than a long, bitter lawsuit, and a caper to corner the Colombian coffee bean market. He was wearing his boots and jeans and enough jewelry to sink a deep-sea diver. He was a mamas boy, always pouting and complaining. I knew as soon as that happened, I didnt have a prayer. Inside Friscos Lavish, Enormous New Golf Resort. Stricklin hadnt yet met Lee Chagra, but he knew Chagras reputation. An electronic current unbolted the door. With the agent providing invaluable assistance at every stage, Renteria and several others were drawn into the government trap. 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 For all the smoke generated by James Kerrs highly publicized grand jury probe of organized crime, there was hardly any fire. He got 30 years. [21], Chagra was released from prison for health reasons in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 9, 2003. Kerr was frail and sallow-faced and talked in a high-pitched voice that suggested he was about to shatter. But his eyes spun like a blur of cherries on a slot machine. Most high rollers would think a 9-year-old would cramp their style, but he took me everywhere.. In less than fifteen minutes, he won $90,000. Kerr escaped with only minor glass cuts. 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. SOLD OUT: Against All Odds: Oscar Goodman and the 40th Anniversary of the Jimmy Chagra Murder Trial. Lee didnt protest as Clark led him out of the casino to the waiting limousine. He loved it. In Judge John Woods courtroom Kerr found the perfect forum for his crusade. A fictitious name reference to the Judge John Wood assassination also appeared in an The FBI Lee Chagra grossed more than $250,000 in 1972. In the winter. Catherine figures she was 10 when her dad went to prison. Those tapes, according to Catherine, were doctored and judged inadmissible.). Hed never seen it so quiet there. The investigation cost more than $11 million. [39], Chagra married his third wife, Lynda Ray, while living under the name James Madrid on November 22, 2005. 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. Hitman Charles Harrelson actor Woody Harrelsons father assassinated Wood outside the judges home in May 1979. The rest of it, he said, his voice sure and unwavering, represents not guilty. [2][22][6] He was the first federal judge to die by assassination in over a century. When either of the Chagras sat at the blackjack table, he took all seven spots. The documents revealed that hardly a week passed without some agents making inquiries into Lee Chagras private life. Lets go downstairs and give them one they can write home about. Clark said he would dress and meet Lee in the casino. He spent more than 35 years defending some of the most notorious alleged Mob figures, including Meyer Lansky, Frank Rosenthal, Anthony Spilotro and Jimmy Chagra. Their dad just didnt feel safe going to court without his consigliere. Lees finances were in shambles, but he still had plenty of credit in Las Vegas. Kay McCulloch died, and with her death the raw material for the book went to the attic. He earned a lot of money and became a high roller in Las Vegas, known for his very generous tipping. A rigorous and lengthy investigation into the murder brought Jimmy Chagra front and center. [1][24], Harrelson was eventually caught and convicted of being the gunman after Chagra discussed the assassination with his brother Joe during Joe's visit to Jimmy in United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, after FBI agents bugged the rooms in which they were speaking. One of his key tactics was to source the details of a model of the apartment complex where Wood was shot, built for $11 million by the prosecution. Lee adopted a wardrobe suitable to his imagea black cowboy hat, fancy handmade boots, and an assortment of expensive jewelry, including a gold bracelet that spelled the word freedom. 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. Just barely making it. Finally, he would pose with the ebony cane with the gold satyrs-head handle, squinting and turning until he was satisfied. In fact, it was a condition of him taking the case. If she realized how pressed he had been for money in recent months, she didnt show it. Its David Long, the first man said. He needs you to look it over before he mails it back.. Lee was a baffling tangle of contradictions. Lee got the best of the feds in Ardmore but that was about the last time. Only a few select friends and celebrities like Rosey Grier or Gabe Kaplan were allowed in. Joe was quieter and more introspective than his brothers. 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. the Mortal Mustache, a.k.a. Hughes knew these had been hard times for his friend. Hed brought corsages for all the women on the staff. The nation was at war, not only in Viet Nam but in the streets, alleys, and barrios of America, where the menace of drugs was destroying the will to fight, or to work, or to do almost anything of traditional value. This year, 1978, had been a year of galloping paranoia. Something about a will, about some large estate in California? And co-conspirators in others. I decided to disappear over to the Hilton for a while. When Clark Hughes returned to Caesars about nine that evening, Lee had almost exhausted his credit limit. 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. Vivian remembered the previous Saturday at his office; shes heard murmurs from the staff as she followed him upstairs. 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. For some unexplained reason, the three assailants (apparently there was a third behind the wheel) raced from the scene without bothering to walk five or six feet and make sure that Kerr was dead. Youve got it wrong, Lee replied. When Lee was murdered sixteen years later, Charles Alan Wright, one of the countrys leading authorities on constitutional law, called him one of the few students who stand out in my memory., There was never any doubt that when Lee passed the state bar exam he would join Jo Annies brother, Sib Abraham, who had finished law school the previous year and had already set up his practice in El Paso. Then suddenly the money was gone. 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. He seemed pleased with the gesture but told her there was some work he needed to do at the office. 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. 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. On the night before he was murdered, Lee Chagra returned home to El Paso flushed with the euphoria a gambler feels when he believes his luck is changing. Jimmys Florida operation, far from being an immediate disaster, disbanded after successfully offloading fifty tons of grass from a Colombian freighter in March. He ran a floating blackjack game and started peddling dope. [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. Goodman managed to get Chagra acquitted. 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