It was in the summer of 1976 that Lee and Jimmy Chagra became Las Vegas legends. Lee had already established something of a reputation in town, both for the El Paso criminal defense attorney’s knack for helping drug smugglers dodge jail time and for his habit of posting up at a craps table anytime he had money to burn. Like most serious gamblers, Lee won just enough to justify all the losing — on one occasion, he went on a run at the Aladdin that netted him $200,000, a large enough chunk of cash that the pit bosses had to ask Caesars Palace for a loan to cover the payout. And like any good Vegas character, Lee had little interest in keeping a low profile. As Gary Cartwright, one of the great chroniclers of modern Texas, wrote in his thrilling book about the Chagra family, 1984’s
Loading the Boat
Loading the Boat
Loading the Boat
It was in the summer of 1976 that Lee and Jimmy Chagra became Las Vegas legends. Lee had already established something of a reputation in town, both for the El Paso criminal defense attorney’s knack for helping drug smugglers dodge jail time and for his habit of posting up at a craps table anytime he had money to burn. Like most serious gamblers, Lee won just enough to justify all the losing — on one occasion, he went on a run at the Aladdin that netted him $200,000, a large enough chunk of cash that the pit bosses had to ask Caesars Palace for a loan to cover the payout. And like any good Vegas character, Lee had little interest in keeping a low profile. As Gary Cartwright, one of the great chroniclers of modern Texas, wrote in his thrilling book about the Chagra family, 1984’s