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

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'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.

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.