jimmy chagra daughters

Further complicating the relationship between the two brothers was that Lee, who was married, had an affair with a woman who worked the switchboard at the Sheraton Hotel in El Paso and, after cutting off the relationship, or at least attempting to, introduced her to Jimmy in order to keep her close. He died from injuries resulting from an automobile accident that occurred on December 6, 1996. [40][3], He had seven children, including a daughter named Catherine, who wrote a memoir about the family. He loved the streets and the people who plied themwhores, gamblers, smugglers, cops. The complex included not only a maze of well-appointed offices but also a fully equipped kitchen, a law library, and completely furnished two-bedroom suite. Chagra and his wife, Liz, and young daughter relocated to Las Vegas in 1978 and moved into a house across the street from attorney Oscar Goodman. A judge cant associate socially with a prosecutor the way Wood did with Kerr and still call em correctly, John Pinckney, the first U.S. attorney, had said. Lee had wanted to be a lawyer, and so, after some convincing, had the youngest of the boys, Joe. It had been months since anyone had seen him so animated. 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. As the family walked away from the cemetery, Jimmy caught up with Vivian and took her arm. But, speaking to his ex-wife, Vivian, in a federal prison more than 30 years ago, he said he was not a killer. October 2022 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? Lee cried a lot in those days. Yoseph let himself in the front entrance with the key that Lee had given him that morning. Vivian died of cancer in July 1986. By the time Lee finished dressing, Jo Annie had breakfast readyfreshly baked Syrian bread, butter, and a variety of fruit preserves. [4], Chagra was active as a trafficker of marijuana beginning in the 1960s,[5] and by the 1970s was a well-known drug trafficker operating out of Las Vegas and El Paso. 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. And even if it was true, for Wood to reveal it in open court was outrageous. Whats more, Kerr and Wood and the entire apparatus of the federal government were breathing down his neck. A case in point was that of an unsuspecting El Paso cafe owner who was conned by two agents into conspiring to buy stolen government weapons. In Judge John Woods courtroom Kerr found the perfect forum for his crusade. He was also used in FBI: The Untold Stories. Sometime in the middle of the night, after everyone else was asleep, Lee changed clothes and drove to his new office. No charges were filed, but it was apparent that the crash was another of Jimmys scams gone up in smoke. First, he made at least a dozen telephone calls. He crossed the living room and closed the apartment door behind him. Knewz is a registered trademark. He asked Bobby Yoseph, a young lawyer who had recently joined his staff, what he would do if he came in and found the office had been robbed? Chagras idea of a good time was slapping a Willie Nelson album on the stereo, snorting cocaine, and getting naked in a pile of aromatic bodies. It appeared to be a clear example of double jeopardysame events, same evidence, same witnesses. Lee Chagra grossed more than $250,000 in 1972. And co-conspirators in others. Many a night, the Chagra brothers would play all six spots on a blackjack table, for anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 a hand. This was among over a thousand recorded conversations that the government had collected as evidence. He left his hat and keys on the couch and walked down the hall to Lees office. The other soldier, Don White, pleaded guilty and is now doing sixty years. It was Stricklin who was on trial, not Chagra. Hardly anyone wanted a lawyer who was under indictment, recalled Joe Chagra, Lees youngest brother, who by then had joined the law firm. As his friend Clark Hughes warned him, One of the problems with being a criminal attorney is that all your clients are crooks. They were scheduled to fly back to El Paso Monday morning. 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. He had an affinity for cards and dice, for dope dealers and shady politicians, for cripples and nightclub singers, for dabblers in the black market and exponents of the quick buck. He named two of his chows Kilo and Poker., Look how sweet and dorky and innocent I look, Catherine Chagra 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 real show was on the casino floor in special sections roped off for the Chagras. 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. This didnt seem to disturb Wood any more than it had Guinn, who used to cackle, I can sentence them a lot faster than they can reverse them. Nor did Wood protest when they started calling him Maximum John. He looked as though he hadnt slept for three nights. All things considered, 1978 has probably been the worst year of Lee Chagras life. As he pulled off the exit ramp above a truck stop on IH 10, Lee could see the Indians car parked in the shadows behind some eighteen-wheelers that idled in the predawn chill. Boyd was wrong. Everything was on the house. They mentioned four namesLee Chagra, Jimmy Chagra, Sib Abraham and Vic Apodaca (a well-known bail bondsman). The government seemed to know it didnt have a case, but it was determined to see how far it could travel. Lees limit was $3000, and he would have played for $10,000 had Caesars Palace allowed it. For all the smoke generated by James Kerrs highly publicized grand jury probe of organized crime, there was hardly any fire. 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. There was plenty of cocaine to guarantee a holiday spirit; at least five ounces had been delivered a few days earlier. 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. You help us and well help you, the agents told Stricklin. Look at em, he grinned at the pit boss. He could be shamelessly sentimental and gentle as a whisper, and yet there was a macho fury inside that could make him turn on those closest to him. Through it all, he had somehow clung to the central fact in his life: Lee Chagra was a topflight criminal attorney. 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. The Indian worked as a collector for several Las Vegas casinos. He got 30 years. Lees law practice never recovered. 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. Donna made fresh coffee and explained the new telephone system to Lee. 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. Whatever Jo Annie was thinking, she wouldnt say anything. Over the next year Lee had only a handful of cases. [9] The story surrounding the assassination of Judge Wood was profiled in an episode of City Confidential. Since he was a stranger to El Paso, Pitts asked a local smuggler named Jack Stricklin for the name of a good lawyer. He called her into the bedroom. Then he expanded the pointer, an inch at a time. Lee didnt seem at all depressed, said Donna Johnson, the law firms bookkeeper. shaggy shag,' and he would gamble up to a million dollars," said No man could have been prouder of his heritage than Wood; he was a confirmed, unapologetic elitist, a descendant of hardy pioneer-stock aristocrats. But more than anything, it was his clothes; Jimmy showed up at the funeral wearing an outfit exactly like Lees Black Striker costume. Lees position in this venture was that of highly paid legal adviser for the gang of smugglers. Goodman managed to get Chagra acquitted. She knew that Lee had just come through many weeks of hard times and she hated asking for money, but Jimmy was months behind in support payments. The chiveras are paid $45 to $65, depending on the size and value of the haul; out of that money they are expected to bribe the various Mexican customs officials, who survive on bribes. Now it was the judge who was having difficulty. Texass Most Venomous Caterpillar. I knew that Vivian had been working on a book about the Chagra saga, McCulloch said. It was the era of the Nixon Administrations much-heralded war on drugs. Loaves of Syrian bread were baking in the kitchen. Clark assumed that he would go straight back to Caesars and claim some of his markers, but that wasnt Lees plan. I knew he would take a hard look at narcotics and organized crime.. As far as having Wood killed, no way, he said. Chagra's lawyer in the case was Oscar Goodman,[26][3] future Mayor of Las Vegas and prosecutors included Assistant United States Attorney Sidney Powell. In short order, Wood surpassed Guinns unenviable reputation as the most reversed judge in the district. Lee stared out the limo window at the blur of cold neon. 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 worried about Lee. He was bubbling over with tales of the previous days Tucson victory. The bell boy warned me of (Lees) reputation as a gambler, and that he was known to like women, Vivian Chagra would tell her friend and former anthropology professor Kay McCulloch, in an interview for a book project on which the two were collaborating. Inside Friscos Lavish, Enormous New Golf Resort. Death came in Mesa, Ariz., on July 25, 2008. He seemed pleased with the gesture but told her there was some work he needed to do at the office. A further indignation: The witness protection program first exiled them to Omaha, Neb. A black banner was stretched across the entire front of the building. When Lee hit a losing streak, he could fly into a snit, blaming anyone handy, especially Jo Annie, who more than once hurried off the casino floor in tears. [5][34] Joe Chagra served six and a half years in prison (of his ten-year sentence) and was released. She still has paintings he made while locked up, a hobby he never resumed after getting a medical parole in December 2003. As the year progressed, so did his paranoia, his insistence that someone was out to get him. The money was in the canvas tennis bag under the sink. [17][10], Chagra's downfall began in February 1979 when he was arrested on trafficking charges. From a radio in another part of the house, Sinatra was singing about doing it his way. His sister, Patsy, recalled, It scared me to hear Lee talk like that. In the 24 hours since their arrival, he had signed markers totaling $240,000. A second man stood behind him, out of camera range. And the caper made the money flow. In 1995, he appeared as himself in the movie, Casino.. On April 11, 1977, James Kerr made an unpublicized trip to Nashville to review the allegations of the 1973 indictments against Lee Chagra and Jack Stricklin. Yosephs gazed moved around the room. Im the eagle! But Sandy noticed there were tears in his eyes. 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. Boyd felt that singling De La Torre out would be construed as the worse sort of sour grapes, and he insisted that Kerr submit the evidence to the Justice Department, which approved the new indictments. Composed of, and by, organized crime. Hughes knew that it would be several hours before Lee worked himself into the proper frenzy. He did quit for the night, though. The family was breaking apart. The next year he paid taxes on $450,000, including $125,000 declared as gambling winnings. His office and home telephone records as far back as 1970 had been subpoenaed, and so had his income tax records. Jurors heard hours worth of tape recordings and more than 500 pages of documents were presented. Now the government was trying to prove that Johnson had helped smuggle a pound of heroin out of Mexico. Sandy was to count out $20,000 from the stash under the bathroom sink and have it ready when the woman arrived. His cowboy hat was pushed forward until the brim almost touched his nose, and shaggy locks of graying hair spilled over his collar. 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. They landed the high-priced weed at a deep, remote cove on the northeastern point of Massachusetts Bay, near Boston. 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. Do you love me, do you love me? He knew the answer, but he had to hear it again. Gentlemen, he told the other players, this table is now reserved for a private game. The staff knew the ritual, but no one knew for sure what went on behind the closed door. With the gambling and the ostentatious living, the money never lasted long. Worse even then the chain reaction of disasters in 1977: the crash of one of his brother Jimmys drug smuggling planes in Colombia, Jimmys botched foray to rescue the pilot, Lees frantic scramble to rescue Jimmy, his running courtroom battle with federal prosecutor James Kerr and Judge John Wood. He couldnt have flushed it down the toilet faster than the way he gambled it and lost it, she said. He was convicted of obstructing the investigation of the Two of their five children were with her. For pure gambling, Jimmy may have been the strongest anyone in Vegas ever saw. In the court of John Wood, Chagra realized, that could be some distance. I think I was about 20 and Lee was 27 or something. One day while Vivian was there, they delivered a dozen red roses to the room. 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. 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 we lost a case.. 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. His grandfather was imprisoned before Jimmy was born, and the family immigrated to El Paso from Mexico. He was wearing his boots and jeans and enough jewelry to sink a deep-sea diver. Lee was lying face up on the floor, blood trickling from his mouth. This is gonna be one theyll write a book about, he told Hughes. In a secret interview with a group of DEA agents and prosecutors, Johnson had implicated at least sixty El Paso citizens as major drug traffickers. Goodman They were like a sickness with him., Lee also loved El Paso and had never thought of living anywhere else. 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. 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. Boyd had never been regarded as a crusader, but one exception was his views on gamblinghe hated gamblers. The attempt on Kerrs life unleashed the most sweeping drug investigation in the history of the Southwest. The agents thought so little of the information gleaned in the interview with Johnson that they didnt even bother to place him under oath. [23] The authorities did not immediately suspect Chagra of involvement in the assassination, and it took thousands of man-hours to identify them as suspects in the case. Chagra could win or lose more in a single session at a Vegas crap table than Kerr made in a year. A cold chill ran up his back as he realized that someone had ransacked Lees files as well. [38] A fictitious name reference to the Judge John Wood assassination also appeared in an The FBI Files episode "Dangerous Company" as the show regularly changed names of real-life people to protect privacy. A ton of marijuana is no better or worse than a ton of quicksilver. On several occasions he watched Lee remove one of his boots and count out the cash. In the summer of 1975, Jimmy finally hit the big time. This year, 1978, had been a year of galloping paranoia. Its riddled with ethnic stereotyping of Lebanese men as reckless womanizers and Lebanese women as subservient slaves to their men. Vivian remembered the previous Saturday at his office; shes heard murmurs from the staff as she followed him upstairs. The gesture was unmistakable: hed come to replace his brother. [9][13] Reportedly, he used gambling as a method of laundering money he received through trafficking drugs. After about an hour Lee had lost $90,000. Like Julius Caesar, John H. Wood was several times offered high office, and several times he refused. He said he would meet her at home in a couple of hours. They say there was nothing Jimmy really wanted to be, but that wasnt entirely true. She had come to count on Leealthough she suspected that the money Lee gave her came from Jimmy anyway. Marriage license #D875871, Marriage License Records, Las Vegas. Lee seemed restless and preoccupied, as though he were late for an appointment and couldnt wait for Jo Annie to leave. 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. Despite the differences in background and age (Stricklin was almost ten years younger), Chagra and Stricklin became more than lawyer and client; they became close friends. Lee never forgot or forgave. Patsy tearfully asked for respect from the press during the crisis. He hung up without speaking. Vivian felt Jo Annies dark eyes following her into the bedroom. Of course, not all the authorities are so blas. Lee referred to it as the mansion that Jack built. It was 6500 square feet, with pool and stables, electronically operated gates, and closed-circuit television monitors. 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 Wood was finally convinced that it was his duty. The madness seemed to peak in November, when two men in a van sprayed Kerrs car with buckshot and .30-caliber bullets. The interview was patently leading; most of the questions were of the when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife variety. A short time later there was a knock, and Lee admitted two hookers to the room. But one exception was his duty his back as he realized that someone was out to her! H. Wood was finally convinced that it was apparent that the government had collected as evidence Hughes him. This was among over a thousand recorded conversations that the crash was another of Jimmys scams gone in. 1970 had been working on a book about the Chagra saga, McCulloch said been delivered a few days.. 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