||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JIMMY CHAGRA
GEORGE KNAPP, LKAS VEGAS CITY LIFE - If you smoked pots during the '60s
or '70s, the chances are pretty good that your supplier was a Las Vegas
high-roller named Jimmy Chagra. Today, three years after his release
from federal prison, the affable Chagra likes to ask people he's just
met where they are from. Then he asks if they ever smoked marijuana back
in high school or college. If the person answers yes, Chagra tells them,
with no hesitation, "That was my shit."
He's not exactly exaggerating. For a period of several years back in the
heyday of reefer, Jimmy Chagra was the undisputed marijuana kingpin of
the Western world. He imported more high-grade ganja than anyone, tons
at a time, planeload after planeload. He used Las Vegas casinos to help
launder some of the mountains of money his illicit enterprise earned,
but at the height of his power, he also had approximately $100 million
stashed in foreign bank accounts.
Sadly for Chagra, federal agents seized every penny of that money after
he was busted for trafficking in 1978. He served more than 20 years in
various federal pens on the drug charges, and narrowly escaped much more
serious punishment for a much more heinous crime. He was charged with
arranging the contract killing of federal judge John Wood, nicknamed
"Maximum John" because of the harsh sentences he handed down, especially
to drug dealers.
Back in March 1979, when I first arrived in Las Vegas, there were two
names spoken with hushed reverence on the streets. One was that of
notorious rackets boss Tough Tony Spilotro. The other was Jimmy Chagra,
the most generous, over-the-top, high-rolling gambler of that era, so
ridiculously "George" that dealers at Caesars Palace chipped in to buy
him a massive trophy in recognition for the gargantuan tips he handed
out. It was as if Chagra didn't care whatsoever about money. He gambled
millions in a single night, and if he lost (which was often), it was no
big deal to him. Oh, if they only knew. . .
Chagra now hints that the triggerman he supposedly hired to kill Judge
Wood may not have done the deed after all. Oh, the judge most certainly
was murdered, but Chagra retains some doubts about whether Charles
Harrelson really did pull the trigger himself. . .
Harrelson is quite a story in his own right. He died in prison last week
while serving a life sentence. He is the father of actor Woody
Harrelson, who's always maintained his dad was innocent. Many believe
Charles Harrelson was one of the mysterious "three tramps" who may have
had something to do with the murder of President John F. Kennedy in
1963. . .
Chagra used to haul his cash into Caesars in massive footlockers. He
would stuff anywhere from $2 to $5 million in each locker, then stash
the lockers in the casino count room while he gambled. At one point,
Caesars was hit hard by a bad run of luck at the baccarat tables and
borrowed $10 million in cash from Chagra for a 24-hour period. They even
wrote him a promissory note. Casino executives and gaming agents almost
certainly knew where Chagra was getting his money. The fact that he
might have a $30 million shipment coming into the country in a day or
two made it much easier for him to lose $800,000 in a single night at
the tables. . .
If you want to know more about him, check out The Money and the Power by
Sally Denton and Roger Morris, or Of Rats and Men by local scribe John
L. Smith, or Sally Denton's earlier page turner, The Bluegrass
Conspiracy. He's a fascinating guy, all the more so since he is somehow
still alive.
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2007/03/29/
opinion/knappster/iq_13438179.txt
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JIMMY CHAGRA
GEORGE KNAPP, LKAS VEGAS CITY LIFE - If you smoked pots during the '60s
or '70s, the chances are pretty good that your supplier was a Las Vegas
high-roller named Jimmy Chagra. Today, three years after his release
from federal prison, the affable Chagra likes to ask people he's just
met where they are from. Then he asks if they ever smoked marijuana back
in high school or college. If the person answers yes, Chagra tells them,
with no hesitation, "That was my shit."
He's not exactly exaggerating. For a period of several years back in the
heyday of reefer, Jimmy Chagra was the undisputed marijuana kingpin of
the Western world. He imported more high-grade ganja than anyone, tons
at a time, planeload after planeload. He used Las Vegas casinos to help
launder some of the mountains of money his illicit enterprise earned,
but at the height of his power, he also had approximately $100 million
stashed in foreign bank accounts.
Sadly for Chagra, federal agents seized every penny of that money after
he was busted for trafficking in 1978. He served more than 20 years in
various federal pens on the drug charges, and narrowly escaped much more
serious punishment for a much more heinous crime. He was charged with
arranging the contract killing of federal judge John Wood, nicknamed
"Maximum John" because of the harsh sentences he handed down, especially
to drug dealers.
Back in March 1979, when I first arrived in Las Vegas, there were two
names spoken with hushed reverence on the streets. One was that of
notorious rackets boss Tough Tony Spilotro. The other was Jimmy Chagra,
the most generous, over-the-top, high-rolling gambler of that era, so
ridiculously "George" that dealers at Caesars Palace chipped in to buy
him a massive trophy in recognition for the gargantuan tips he handed
out. It was as if Chagra didn't care whatsoever about money. He gambled
millions in a single night, and if he lost (which was often), it was no
big deal to him. Oh, if they only knew. . .
Chagra now hints that the triggerman he supposedly hired to kill Judge
Wood may not have done the deed after all. Oh, the judge most certainly
was murdered, but Chagra retains some doubts about whether Charles
Harrelson really did pull the trigger himself. . .
Harrelson is quite a story in his own right. He died in prison last week
while serving a life sentence. He is the father of actor Woody
Harrelson, who's always maintained his dad was innocent. Many believe
Charles Harrelson was one of the mysterious "three tramps" who may have
had something to do with the murder of President John F. Kennedy in
1963. . .
Chagra used to haul his cash into Caesars in massive footlockers. He
would stuff anywhere from $2 to $5 million in each locker, then stash
the lockers in the casino count room while he gambled. At one point,
Caesars was hit hard by a bad run of luck at the baccarat tables and
borrowed $10 million in cash from Chagra for a 24-hour period. They even
wrote him a promissory note. Casino executives and gaming agents almost
certainly knew where Chagra was getting his money. The fact that he
might have a $30 million shipment coming into the country in a day or
two made it much easier for him to lose $800,000 in a single night at
the tables. . .
If you want to know more about him, check out The Money and the Power by
Sally Denton and Roger Morris, or Of Rats and Men by local scribe John
L. Smith, or Sally Denton's earlier page turner, The Bluegrass
Conspiracy. He's a fascinating guy, all the more so since he is somehow
still alive.
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2007/03/29/
opinion/knappster/iq_13438179.txt
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No comments:
Post a Comment