At a subsequent trial, held in Florida because of the publicity in Texas, Jimmy Chagra was acquitted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder but convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiracy to possess more than half a ton of marijuana with intent to sell. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. Then-FBI Director William Webster dispatched dozens of agents to San Antonio for a massive investigation that resulted in Harrelson and four others being charged in connection with Woods assassination a killing still etched in the citys lore. The verdicts concluded an 11-week trial that grew out of one of the most extensive Federal investigations in the nation's history, involving every one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 54 offices in the United States at varying times over more than three years. James had a deal to receive $250,000 from the government if Chagra was convicted. ", Louise Hicks, Executive Director, Community In Schools of Cape Fear, "We are grateful for the resources and partners the Harrelson Center has introduced to us. He could have gone unnoticed for a long time, but he couldnt resist going to Las Vegas to see a cosmetic surgeon. The $450,000 they took from the office safe was money Jimmy owed to mob boss Joe Bonanno, Sr., for a busted drug deal. Jo Ann Harrelson was found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Charles and Jo Ann Harrelson and Liz Chagra were convicted at trial. The case was unique in that the courts all the way up the line blessed the decisions below, Campion said of appeals that followed. Dozens killed, injured as Jakarta fuel depot fire engulfs neighborhood. UNITED STATES v. HARRELSO | 705 F.2d 733 (1983) - Leagle Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He believed in the justice system, but it didnt do right by him., Do I feel like he got robbed? The unlawful killing of another human being without justification or excuse. Three years later, after moving to the Harrelson Center, we have a staff of 18 and are serving some 1500 people. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Image of Jimmy Chagra in handcuffs courtesy of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The case has prompted Mrs. Harrelson to attempt suicide and caused her to temporarily disown her two daughters for having affairs with Harrelson during their marriage. - Steve Spain, Executive Director, Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity. On May 29, 1979, Wood was shot dead in the parking lot outside his San Antonio townhouse. Oscar Goodman and Joe Chagra were Jimmys attorneys. Years later, the trial of Charles V. Harrelson revealed that Bill Bannister was a pseudonym Harrelson used to help track the judge, who was shot in the back outside his Alamo Heights townhome less than 2 miles from the motel as he was leaving for work. At least 5 dead following year's first severe spring weather outbreak. Guillermo has also worked in Central America, Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona and California and his work has appeared in various publications, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, New York Post, Newsday, Denver Post and the Albuquerque Journal. Harrelson, a card gambling felon and accused hit man with ties to organized crime, was the father of actor Woody Harrelson and met Jimmy Chagra in Vegas in 1979 after being paroled in an unrelated murder case. In a plea agreement, Joe Chagra got a 10-year sentence. This synergistic environment allows all the nonprofits to operate more efficiently and better utilize their funding. 'The hearing will continue when I hear further from the government or the witness (Mrs. Further, most of the evidence and testimony against Charles Harrelson had been gathered from prisoners who were offered reduced sentences in exchange for implicating Harrelson. From online or printed Later, Chagra admitted to the judges murder and to the attempted murder of Kerr in an effort to free his wife from prison. Woody Harrelson funded his fathers appeals, enlisting the aid of controversial By the time the trial came around in 1983, Jimmy Chagras case had been severed from his co-defendants and Joe Chagra had taken a plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to murder Wood. Assistant United States Attorney Ray Jahn, the chief prosecutor, expressed his thanks for the verdict, saying, ''When Judge Wood died on May 29, justice did not die.''. SHREVEPORT, La. Harrelson).'. This is a carousel. You cant imagine the shock when Jimmy Chagra was acquitted.. Elizabeth Chagra, the wife of Jamiel (Jimmy) Chagra, the drug dealer who is to be tried in a separate proceeding on charges of paying Mr. Harrelson $250,000 to murder the judge, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice. In his testimony over more than five days on the witness stand, Mr. Harrelson said he had gone to lure Jamiel Chagra into a crooked card game. Elizabeth Chagra admitted she delivered the money but said she did not know what it was for. https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/law-magazines/charles-harrelson-trial-1982-83, "Charles Harrelson Trial: 1982-83 He was a cheat, he was a con man and he was a murderer. . with Diane Harrelson{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Diane Harrelson", "gender": "Female" }. As of mid-2001, the appeal remained postponed. But theres a postscript: I feel certain that the youngest of three brothers in El Pasos infamous Chagra crime family knew nothing about Woods murder until months after the fact. Mr. Chagra testified not only that Mr. Harrelson had told him he had killed Judge Wood, but also that his brother had suggested killing the judge and had identified Mr. Harrelson as the man he paid to do so. Prosecutors said Mrs. Harrelson lied to FBI agents, to a grand jury and in her previous trial. Jo Ann Harrelson was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice and later convicted of five counts of perjury. I visited him several times, once with my wife, Phyllis. Judge Wood was the first Federal judge to be assassinated in this century. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Chagra was once held by Colombian authorities after his drug-smuggling plane crashed there. Mrs. Harrelson, 42, a small, blond woman who was once a known 'card counter' at Las Vegas blackjack tables, collapsed moments after hearing the verdict Monday. Goodman made a six-hour final argument without a break. British bus driver stops to give loose sheep a lift. Bobby Harrelson said it best in Crazy Like A Fox, an article in Wilmington Magazine. Jo Ann had purchased the rifle under a false name, Mrs. "Fay King." A place where needs are met, dreams are fostered and hope abounds. On another visit Jimmy told Joe, Youre the one who said, Do it, do it, do it. Joe tried to conceal his shock by talking tough, saying he never thought his brother would hire an asshole like Harrelson. Judge Wood denied any impropriety and refused to remove himself from the case. After Joe was killed, the bad publicity inevitably returned, so Patty took their daughter, Samantha, a seventeen-year-old high school honor student, to all the television stations in El Pasojust so they could see her face and know what they had put her through. After that, Patty told me, the flavor of the stories softened. Jo Ann Harrelson tried for perjury, and Jamiel and Elizabeth Chagra tried for tax evasion in Shreveport, Louisiana.Dates of Trials: October 7, 1982-December 14, 1982 (Charles Harrelson, Jo Ann Harrelson, Elizabeth Chagra); January 10, 1983-February 7, 1983 (Jamiel Chagra); March 1983 (Chagra trials for tax evasion and Jo Ann Harrelson trial for perjury)Verdicts: Charles Harrelson: guilty of murder of federal judge, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to obstruct justice. Guillermo has been with the Express-News for 20 years, and has covered federal court and its investigative agencies for most of that time. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. WebTo provide a humanitarian services campus of nonprofit organizations that offer hope, opportunity, and empowerment. Once he paid off a cocktail waitress $50,000 mortgage when he heard she was raising three kids on her own. Having these additional resources in the same building for our families, as well as having the support of the Harrelson Center staff allows us to continue to ease the transitions of our local foster children. separate, there is cohesiveness. He has also covered immigration, minority affairs and legal affairs as part of the projects team here and for other print, TV and radio outlets. March 3 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Britain responded to a home to rescue a horse that had fallen into its owner's swimming pool and was unable to get itself out. He gave us details that only he knew, Ray Jahn said. To cut costs, Amazon delays completion of second headquarters, closes retail stores. A convicted hit man's wife Monday won a first - UPI March 3 (UPI) -- A sheep spotted wandering loose on a British highway was given a lift back to its owner by a concerned bus driver on her first day on the job. Meanwhile, the drug trial was held before Woods replacement, U.S. District Judge William Sessions. Jo Ann Harrelson, whose daughter has been imprisoned more than three months for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury, walked away from the federal On the morning of May 29, 1979, Judge Wood, 63, was slain in the driveway of his town house in San Antonio, struck in the back by a bullet from a high-powered rifle. Thank you for helping me and our community. You know Harrelson knocked off the judge, Jimmy told him. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Elizabeth Chagra: 30 years for conspiracy to murder, two concurrent five year sentences for obstruction of justice and tax evasion. Since arriving, our vision has become reality. Harrelson had been a suspect, but so had several others. Joe Chagra ended March 4 (UPI) -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made a rare visit to frontline troops in Ukraine on Saturday as Kyiv's grip on the embattled city of Bakhmut appeared to be slipping. Joseph Chagra accepted a plea bargain. The Center recognizes the critical needs of others and encourages, uplifts and assists them in rebuilding their lives through the services provided in the center. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. The feds indicted Jimmy Chagra, Charles Harrelson, Joe Chagra, Liz Chagra and Jo Ann Harrelson in the judges murder. I got to know Joe well in the two years I was writing my book on the Wood assassination, Dirty Dealing, and I watched the sordid story unfold through his eyes. Rob Condon, Executive Director, Young Scientists Academy, "We have been at the Harrelson Center for 3 years and it's been a dream come true! In the letter, Elizabeth relayed conversations about plans to kill Wood and told of her own delivery of the payoff money to Las Vegas. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. JERRY LARA, Staff / San Antonio Express-News. According to the Jahns, Harrelson offered to kill people suspected of killing Jimmys older brother, attorney Lee Chagra, who was murdered in his El Paso law office two days before Christmas in 1978.