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Attorney “DWI Dude” sentenced for scamming drug traffickers


Tailgate

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I remember seeing several of his billboards around Austin. Wonder if he’ll survive his sentence. Last people you’d want to scam.

SHERMAN, Texas — A Texas lawyer known as the “DWI Dude” has been sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison for falsely promising Colombian drug traffickers he'd get their charges reduced or dismissed in exchange for cash, prosecutors said.

Jamie Balagia, 65, was sentenced Monday to 188 months in federal prison. He was convicted after a two-week trial in 2019 of conspiracy to commit money laundering, obstruction of justice, violation of the Kingpin Act, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
 

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/dwi-dude-attorney-sentenced-for-scamming-drug-traffickers/269-88db85c4-c9d7-4ee0-af55-2b26a1082561

Doh! Original thread here: 

 

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naw, he was defrauding them, but kvue's headline and first sentence are way out of whack.

Quote

According to federal prosecutors, Balagia conspired with a private investigator in Florida and an attorney in Colombia to scam Colombian drug traffickers into paying “attorney fees” for acting as intermediaries with government officials who they said would accept bribes to dismiss criminal charges or reduce prison sentences.

There were no bribes or government officials involved.

“The evidence in this case demonstrated that Balagia had been shaking down his clients for years by claiming that he was able to purchase favorable deals from prosecutors and judges alike,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said.

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
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48 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

I mean, I wouldn't expect a 4-month old to fare well in a chase of any sort, or a shootout for that matter.

I tried to teach mine to shoot my carry gun just in case we ever get in a shootout and I am incapacitated, and all I ended up with is a dead dog. But on the bright side he has a nice future in law enforcement awaiting him.

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Why should it be illegal to scam organized crime out of their ill-gotten games?  Am I the only one who thinks that this should be encouraged by the government?

Like a Letter of Marque in the pirating days. If you want to assume the risk of getting chainsawed to death, then let them scam some drug lords.

 

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9 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Why should it be illegal to scam organized crime out of their ill-gotten games?  Am I the only one who thinks that this should be encouraged by the government?

Like a Letter of Marque in the pirating days. If you want to assume the risk of getting chainsawed to death, then let them scam some drug lords.

 

DWI dude was fucking with the government's money. 

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