TEXAS LAWYER RIPPED OFF COLOMBIAN DRUG CARTELS FOR $1.5 MILLION

'DWI Dude' attorney sentenced to federal prison for scamming Colombian drug traffickers

 

By Bryan Eckert

KABB

May 4, 2021

 

 

SAN ANTONIO — The Texas attorney, known as the "DWI Dude," has been sentenced to federal prison.

Jamie Balagia, 65, will serve almost 16 years for his involvement in an international fraud scheme that scammed Colombian drug traffickers out of $1.5 million dollars. 

He was also ordered to forfeit his law office building in Manor, Texas, and a money judgment of $1.5 million.

 

Jamie Balagia campaigning in 2014 as the Libertarian candidate for Texas attorney general

 

According to information shared in court, Balagia conspired with a Florida private investigator and Colombian attorney in 2014, to swindle Colombian drug traffickers under the guise of bribing officials in the United States.

During meetings in Colombia and in Collin County, Texas, the group represented that in exchange for inflated “attorney fees,” they were in contact with government officials in the United States who would accept bribes resulting in either the dismissal of their criminal charges or significant reductions in their U.S. federal prison sentences. In reality, there were no bribes or government officials.

“That system, however, cannot function when officers of the court are corrupt. 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. The Department of Justice will defend our Justice system vigorously and will prosecute predatory lawyers like Balagia every single time they are discovered.”

The other co-defendants had pleaded guilty earlier and are also serving federal prison sentences.