Texas DWI Dude James Balagia sentenced for defrauding Colombian cocaine traffickers
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DWI Dude lawyer convicted of swindling Colombian traffickers is sentenced in Texas
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Texas Lawyer Gets 15 Years for Scheme to Defraud Cocaine Traffickers
A lawyer known as the D.W.I. Dude pocketed money that he told drug dealers would be used to bribe officials, prosecutors said.
James Morris Balagia, a former police officer turned defense lawyer, cut a striking figure in Texas’s legal scene, once arriving for a hearing in a vehicle emblazoned with the slogan “Busted? Call the Dude!” Credit.William Luther/The San Antonio Express-News, via Associated Press
May 5, 2021, 9:05 a.m. ET
A Texas lawyer known as the D.W.I. Dude for specializing in defending clients charged with driving while intoxicated and drug possession was sentenced this week to more than 15 years in prison for a scheme to pocket money that Colombian cocaine traffickers had been told would go to bribe officials, federal prosecutors said.
Austin lawyer known as ‘DWI Dude’ gets 15 1/2 years in prison for scamming Colombian narcos
Austin lawyer known as ‘DWI Dude’ gets 15 1/2 years in prison for scamming Colombian narcos
Jamie Balagia had been convicted in 2019 of shaking down international drug traffickers by telling them his high-placed contacts in D.C. could get their charges reduced or dropped in exchange for hefty legal fees.
Jamie Balagia, who was convicted of shaking down Colombian drug lords, spoke as a Libertarian party candidate for Texas attorney general on May 1, 2014, in San Antonio.(William Luther / San Antonio Express-News)
SHERMAN An Austin lawyer known as the “DWI Dude” for his area of practice was sentenced on Monday to about 15 1/2 years in federal prison for shaking down Colombian drug traffickers for over $1 million on the false promise of being able to make their charges go away.