Customer Reviews

Dirty Dealing: Drug Smuggling on the Mexican Border and the Assassination of a Federal Judge--An American Parable

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those who think that the law doesn't make mistakes. For those who want to know how the underworld works, this is the book for you. Cartwright keeps the book going and pulls no punches when it comes to revealing how the government can simply stack the charges on anyone they choose. This book tells of drugs, money laundering, murder, gambling, poor law enforcement performance, and how power corrupts. The author deals in facts, so you can come to your own conclusions about Dirty Dealing.

I liked it so much that I bought the hard copy at a book show and had Cartwright sign it.

This is an excellent book written about the second most famous murder case in Texas(JFK is the most famous). Cartwright does a great job of showing how Judge Wood had no business being a federal judge. Although nobody deserves to be murdered. I read this book in a day and a half and have advised those around me to read it as well.

I'm surprised to see such little attention given to this book. Anyway, extremely well written, fascinating story line, colorful characters.

There's lots of details here (almost too many) and probably requires a second reading to understand the full impact and all the connections. But it's a great story that has many twists and turns.

My only criticism is with the organization of the book. Much of the first third focuses on a character (spoiler) who ends up dying. At that point the story changes focus on two other characters, so all the story arcs have to start all over again. There's tons of details, so I imagine the nightmare in trying to organize all the overlapping details.

That said, it's not a big deal, and probably more of a personal preference.

Read this book. It really is exceptional.

Gary Cartwright is a National Treasure. His portrayal of the Federal System is right on the target. Several years ago I was selected to sit on a Federal Grand Jury and came away from that experience with a profound distrust of the feds. Over and over again, in that jury room, we were subjected to lies, misrepresentations (one DEA agent even came in the room, gave evidence, and only upon questioning from those in the room did it come out that he was no where near the incident he just described in such vivid detail. The statute of limitations was about to run out and he was told to read the file and act like he was the arresting officer)and deception. We had a diet of this for 18 months and all of us agreed that these guys can't be trusted. This book bears that out and brought back a ton of memories. If you get in trouble, never trust what they tell you they're going to do if you cooperate, and always get your deal in writing before you talk.

Cartwright's friendship with Joe and Patty Chagra is quite evident throughout the contents of this book. As a historical and informative book, I enjoyed it very much. However, Cartwright's constant attempt to portray the Chagras as victims of an over-zealous federal investigation or as some type of folk heros is absurd. Lee, Jimmy, and Joe were the typical, bottom-of-the-barrel scum who hurt many true victims in our society. And I am referring to not just the assassination of Judge Wood, but all the crime that is associated with any narcotics dealer. The U.S. government did an excellent job to remove Jimmy, Joe, and the other worthless members of their group from society. Joe had no business attempting to get his law license back after his time in jail. The government never promised to help him get it back, as Cartwright insinuates in his book. The government doesn't make promises like that. The only people that may have seen the Chagras as "heros" were fellow criminals. And even then, the Chagras weren't the brightest individuals as they were always flaunting their wealth, doing cocaine, and drawing attention to themselves. It's the smart criminals that don't get caught.

The true story of the Chagra brothers drug smuggling empire and high rolling gambling is an American classic. It is so engrossing that if you read the first page you will be hooked! ElPaso, Las Vegas, the murder of a powerful federal judge, sex, drugs, movie stars, gambling for extremely high stakes ... it has everything.

Like a Greek tragedy, the victims or players as some readers might want to call them, had no way out. All of them, good, bad, rich or poor, got entangled in a spiders' web of which they would never be able to get out.

To some of us, money is the source of all evil. To others money is a commodity, a need, a necessity. The more we have, the more we want, and the more we want, the deeper we get into the quagmire of bad and possibly even evil.

The author, Gary Cartwright, of "Dirty Dealings" does not aim a literary (literally speaking) shotgun at anyone in particular. He points the literary shotgun at everyone. Above all, he does not discriminate concerning the victims or players in the story. He tells it as it is; as it was; as it happened.

The arrogance and dictatorship of many leaves the reader with fear, dread, and apprehension due to the fact that those who were supposed to uphold the honest, honorable pillars of good and justice were just as bad as those they considered the bad seeds of a society. For sure, two wrong's can never make a right, and likewise, two right's can never make a wrong.

Mr. Gary Cartwright not only tells it like it was, but gives the reader an excellent background on the history and culture of city where the injustices by many---good, bad and evil-- took place.

I highly recommend for everyone, regardless of his or her stature in life, to read this book.

The early history of El Paso (my birthplace) was very interesting to me. My family and I moved overseas when I was 4 years old, so I didn't have much opportunity to know about my home town. To make a long story short,I discovered when I was 27 yrs. old that my "Dad" was not my natural father. I was informed of this books existence in 2003 by a maternal Aunt. Upon reading it, when I turned to page 200 my jaw dropped. The resemblance I share with the picture of Joe Chagra was uncanny. My children had the same reaction. Because of the time line the possibility of Joe being my natural father is not realistic. The book made reference to Lee being a womanizer before he was married, and after. Upon receiving a picture of Lee's oldest daughter many months later (we're about the same age) and the strong resemblance to one another, some of my uncertainties regarding my parentage have been dispelled. I may never know the truth about my natural father, short of DNA testing, so this is as close as I may come. If not for your book Mr. Cartwright, I would probably still be at square one. My mother, also a native El Pasoan, refused to divulge any information to me, hence the almost 18 year seperation, not only for this reason. I hear that Jimmy was reunited with a daughter he never knew about while in prison, but alas it wasn't me. I'll bet she's slim, attractive, with creamy-coffee colored skin though.

I've read a lot of true crime books and the best ones take the reader through the mystery and ultimate solving of the crime in question.

Most authors of true crime books realize that they are dealing with criminals, police, and prosecutors and they walk a fine line in trying to tell a story of a crime that has in some unique way become interesting enough to the general public to warrant a book being written.

The author of this book, while going through the facts of these criminals lives and their crimes, from the first page on, glorifies these criminals and their murders and lifestyles. The facts of the crime(s) are secondary in this book to presenting these criminals as heroes because they have used the vast amounts of drug money to become vastly richer then they otherwise would ever become.

In every single page of this book the criminals get the "good" adjectives describing these dope dealers and murderers as "robin hood" types and the judges and the prosecutors get the uncomplimentary words to describe them.

According to the way this author portrays the people who murder and bring drugs into our society they are the good guys and the people who try to put them in prison, to keep them away from our society and children, are the bumbling fools always making mistakes and letting the "good guy criminals" go free.

This author has a chance to present a more fair-sided book but instead opted to glorify the criminals and their drug crimes.

If you don't believe what I say about this author idolizing the dope dealing criminals and murderers, then buy this book and read the first 50 pages.

But don't waste your money and time and pay over 50 cents for it.

I'm not a true crime fan, but I am a practicing criminal defense lawyer, so I read a fair amount of true crime. I like the true crime that focuses on court's, lawyers and trials rather then gory facts & police work, and from that perspective, Dirty Dealing is the kind of true crime book that I favor.

It tells the story of the Chagra Brothers and their battles in the El Paso/Texas area. Wrapped into the wider narrative is the story of Charles Harrelson (Woody's dad) and his conviction for the murder of a federal judge. There are no heros in this book: the cops sound as bad the lawyers. It's an interesting historical document for it's portrayal of crime and punishment during the dawn of the "War on Drugs," before which drug dealers were seen as a romantic outlaws, and after which... well- we all know what came after.

I'd recommend this as a minor classic of the War on Drugs sub genre of True Crime- alongside Blow. If you have an aversion to court room procedure you may want to skip this one.