The only difference is that cops carry badges, he said. Standing well over 6 feet, before putting on his hat and boots, he cut an imposing, even intimidating figure. The third time, though, in February 2007, Border Patrol agents found him and two others hiding in creosote bushes one hundred miles west of Las Cruces, with three backpacks that totaled 194 pounds. But on the afternoon of March 6, Border Patrol agents found him and five others sleeping in the brush west of Marfa. Robert is a managing . Sunlight broke through the slim canopy. In one of his ethics courses, he told the class that what they were learning was a fantasy. Best described as a muckraking journalist, McNamara launched a scrappy newspaper, The Nimby News, in Alpine to cover stories often left out of the local newspaper, and later wrote a column for the Big Bend Sentinel in Marfa. In December 1991, Thompson already had filed to run for a fifth term as sheriff and tax assessor/collector, joint positions in Presidio County. It was one of Thompson's more dubious associations, a local man named Glyn Robert Chambers, that apparently led to his downfall. From there, the runners followed white arrows spray-painted on the ground into a forest of pion pine, juniper, and small oak trees. His mother, Christine, didnt want to stay in Alpine because of the publicity. Now 68, he lives in Alpine, Texas. Running was in his blood. Report this listing. The Chambers' gift creates the J. Robert Chambers '89 and Kimberly A. In backpacker cases, each defendant is on the hook for the entire load, not merely his own. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Robert Leroy Chambers to show support. 2 . Read more:Elvis performed in San Antonio several times in his heyday. The female racers wore their everyday clothes: skirts full of reds, yellows, pinks, and blues, and matching head scarves to block the sun. In the past twenty years, there has been a fivefold increase in Border Patrol agents working that stretch of border, up to nearly 20,000. Volunteers were on hand to offer cheese sandwiches, bananas, and oranges. When Chambers was still in law school, in 2012, Rogers had helped introduce him to the federal courts that were handling the influx of people and drugs coming across the border. Forty years ago, engineers had erected this road on top of an ancient Tarahumara foot trail. This is a carousel. People say that because I worked for Rick Thompson, I was dirty. Dominguez said he also has a troubled relationship with the DEA, and that he, too, is whispered by some as being corrupt. They moved up and down the Interstate 35 corridor so often that Chambers lost count of the number of schools he attended. Rick Thompson was widely admired by Marfa residents and was a shoe-in for his upcoming election to a fifth term as Presidio County Sheriff. Silvino couldnt compete in the U.S. because of his arrest record, but he still needed to race to remain financially free of the cartels, so he often stuck to races closer to home, like the upcoming ultramarathon in Cerocahui, which included a four-thousand-foot ascent up a road out of Urique. As a result, Vegaperforming the lowest, most expendable role in the drug tradecarried the burden himself. Muy ligero, he told himself. Thompson and former County Judge Bobby Martinez shake hands. It was a half hour after midnight and Silvino Cubesare Quimare was approaching the ghost town of Separ, in southwest New Mexico. Silvino flung his bags into the sand and began to run. Hell walk tall, she told U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer of Dallas. He laughed at the memory of a rarajipari when an opposing team cast a spell on his team. A reception will be held in her honor at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Baytown, Texas from 4-6 pm on Saturday, January 21. Chambers '91 President's Endowed Scholarship. The most famous section, covered with lichen, is the color of oxidized copper. Organizers across the world sought Tarahumara runners for their races, and. The thick old-growth trees had been chopped down long ago and sent to the sawmills of nearby Bahuichivo. Three were for illegal purchases of six-packs of beer, McNamara wrote in late 1991. Spotting the same vehicle minutes later, still driving dark, the agent recognized it. He and Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson were particularly close. He hadnt been feeling well and had visited a hospital the day before. He glanced over his right shoulder at the river that snaked through the canyon of the same name. At the square, a dozen bedraggled municipal police, a few seemingly too young to grow facial hair, loitered with unloaded AK-47sgoats horns, they called them. The nickname some people gave him here was Walking Tall, Rivera recalled. A beloved law officer had betrayed the badge, causing a tragedy of epic proportions for his family and the town. He claimed $1.5 million in narcotics seized when in fact $5,000 was seized. Robert Chambers. Indeed, he gave a whole new meaning to the term "triple-threat." He had escaped, but Silvino continued running through the night, slept half of the next day, and then ran through the afternoon and the next night. I think its worth it. When they arrived at the orchard, there were no pecans. From then on gunfire could routinely be heard in the town and up the canyon. Though clouds had gathered off and on over the villagers homesdark, billowing masses that overshadowed their huts among the fields of cornit had not rained. Not in West Texas. The man did what he did. In Spanish, the judge ran through the conditions of the imprisonment twice so Vega could understand. A pair of feral dogs dozed near Silvinos feet. Now, 26 years after Thompson was sent to federal prison, his troubling shadow lingers over Marfa. He attributed part of the Tarahumaras success to their minimal footwear; they ran with a lightness unfamiliar to American runners, landing on the midpoint of their foot instead of the heel. Her caseload was so large she had to meet with up to nine clients at a time, but she patiently explained to each one how their case would unfold and made them all laugh. In March 2010, a month before Silvinos narrow escape in New Mexico, the annual Ultra Caballo Blanco had drawn a record number of international participants to Urique Canyon. Silvino remembered the women in Huisuchi who used to weave baskets out of the pine needles. Thompson was very popular in Marfa, which back then was a gritty, down-in-the-boot-heels ranching town of about 2,500 people, a far cry from todays hip cultural mecca, popular with wealthy New Yorkers and Californians. The head of the organization squeals on people who worked for him, and the DEA gives him a free pass. This case was filed in Travis County Courts, Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse located in Travis, Texas. Jackson was a regular, and he later devoted most of a chapter in his book One Ranger to a tortured examination of their relationship. Silvino, a farmer with four children, knew the canyons the way urban dwellers know city streets: every rock, cactus, and river bend was a sign. Silvino swore he would never run drugs again, but by 2010, there was still not enough food to eat. And over his four terms in office, Thompson had led a regional drug task force, filmed anti-drug television spots for U.S. Customs and was the president of the Sheriffs Association of Texas. Someone said it was like seeing the Marlboro Man go up in flames, he said. Tarahumara is a Spanish corruption of the tribes name, Rarmuri, meaning ones with light feet or foot runners.. Thomas Chambers. He grew up believing hed never see him again outside of prison. The newspapers alleged mechanical failure, but people heard otherwise: it was said that traffickers had murdered them in the middle of the night and pushed their car into the canyon. After his death, Chambers briefly served as The Plaza before Amado Carillo Fuentes took control of distribution with the Juarez Cartel. When I visited Chambers at his office in January, his desk was makeshift: two long folding tables down the hall from a few other lawyers in a one-story brick building on the main street. In a bizarre news conference held just days later, Thompson admitted the ton of cocaine was his, but he claimed it was part of a one-man reverse sting. He grew up on the family farm in the Iron Duff community along with his brothers Howard and Earl Chambers. It was still dark when Silvino woke two hours before the big race in Cerocahui last October. And not only did Thompson use Chambers as a confidential source, the sheriff went to bat for him over his legal problems. He told me he was too busy with his caseload to make the three-hour trip. At the Caballo Blanco, both Silvino and Arnulfo proved themselves, and though Jurek passed Silvino near the end of the 47 miles, he couldnt catch Arnulfo. Hell walk straight. Ott-Laughlin Funeral Home OBITUARY Robert Mark Chambers March 17, 1943 - January 9, 2014 Chambers, Robert Mark ("Bob"), 70, of Winter Haven and Ft. Pierce, Florida passed away of heart failure January 9, 2014. McNamara, now 82, lives in Oregon with his wife. Rick Thompson, former Presidio County sheriff, and rancher Glyn Robert Chambers received life terms from U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer of Dallas for shipping the cocaine across the Rio Grande River on Dec. 3, 1991. He became frustrated with the legal system, which he felt was too focused on punishing his family members for their addictions rather than helping them. As Silvino left the San Isidro Lodge, where he had stayed the night, he glanced over at six mangy dogs and cats sleeping next to the embers of a nearby campfire. His first time, in 2005, he did just that, tossing his, After his release, it took Silvino two months to get home. All I know is I worked for five months for him. In 2006, he persuaded Scott Jurek, the top American, to travel to Urique Canyon for a trail race he was organizing that is now known as the Ultra Caballo Blanco. The next 21 miles were unpaved. ), he added. Cops and crooks are of the same caliber. Robert Chambers in Texas We found 15 records for Robert Chambers in Lolita, Round Rock and 11 other cities in Texas. He became frustrated with the legal system, which he felt was too focused on punishing his family members for their addictions rather than helping them. Rick had such good favor. When they neared the San Isidro Lodge, Silvino was in fourth but still in range of the leaders. Im fighting for money, hed told himself. Lookup the home address, phone numbers, email address for this person. It was April 2, 2010, and over five days they had traveled roughly five hundred miles from their village of Huisuchi, in the remote Sierra Madre mountains of northern Mexico. Some Tarahumara activists tried to make their plight known, like Irma Chvez Cruz, a 25-year-old mother who was a friend of Silvinos. . For finishing third, Silvino earned 8,000 pesos, enough to remain free of the cartels, at least for a while longer. Strapped to his back were two homespun burlap packs, one filled with 45 pounds of marijuana bricks and the other with enough burritos and gallon jugs of water to survive another week in the wilderness. They had a huge drug bust, but the end result was they got a tiny amount of drugs from college kids, cooks and drifters, McNamara recalled. His earliest possible release date is January 2024. He quickly worked his way up to a key operator in smuggling drugs into the U.S. and after Acostas death, he even held the title of The Plaza (the kingpin who controlled all drug movement through Ojinaga)a strange position for an American. Chambers remembers his grandfather watching the Weather Channel regularly, hoping for rain. The course turned toward Cerocahui on a footpath built by drug traffickers to carry out their crops. Organizers across the world sought Tarahumara runners for their races, and those who moved comfortably among chabochi, or outsiders, began receiving regular invitations to race. Getty Images Robert Chambers, the "Preppy Killer" who murdered 18-year-old Jennifer Levin, released from the Rikers Island jail on $150,000 bond in 1986. He had grown up on the ancient tales of men who sprinkled bone dust on the course the night before, thought to induce fatigue in your competitors. There are people who kill or rape who serve less time, he noted. Hed hoped that once there he could stay a short time and workin the Permian Basin oil fields, perhapsand then return home with money for his wife and two sons. Contacted recently at his home in Oregon, McNamara, 80, said he still is trying to get to the bottom of it all. By 2015, the tiny office of the federal public defenders in Alpine was tasked with the second-largest caseload in Texas, behind El Paso. Like the Tarahumara, the Chambers clan was inexorably tied to their land. There, it also became common to see Tarahumara children begging or selling candy and key chains on the streets. Robert Conrad Photo, Robert Horton Photo, Springfield Trapdoor, Council Tool Collectible Axes & Hatches, Leaded Lamp, Federal public defenders were typically appointed the first defendant, and private attorneys, like Chambers, were tasked with the rest. With him were five cousins and a nephew, each shouldering a similar load. A hail-fellow-well met. True wondered how they would fare against the Tarahumara, and he sought to revitalize these local traditions. As Silvino left the San Isidro Lodge, where he had stayed the night, he glanced over at six mangy dogs and cats sleeping next to the embers of a nearby campfire. His father was a videocassette distributor and his mother worked as a private nurse, once treating a young John F. Kennedy Jr. for bronchitis and arranging a play date for him and Robert. Multinational corporations seized the merchandising opportunities, and soon, people all over the world were wearing barefoot-style shoes. His arrest for cocaine trafficking shocked Marfa and the law enforcement officers he had befriended and worked with for years. Back then, nationality didnt matter as much; people were simply trying to make ends meet on both sides of the Rio Grande. They trudged silently past the scars of an old copper mining trail, long-gone railroad tracks and trading posts that once upon a time exchanged men, minerals, and equipment across the border to Chihuahua. Mexican cartels, meanwhile, recognized an opportunity for a different sort of international commerce. Chambers told Vega that it was a good deal, and it helped when the Federal Bureau of Prisons sent back a recommendation of 46 months instead of 60. Under any circumstances, safeguarding so vast and wild a county with the help of only two deputies was a daunting job. But Thompson, with brains, nerve and political savvy, proved up to the all-consuming job of being a rural West Texas sheriff. Meanwhile, budget cuts meant the number of lawyers (four) stayed the same. Roughly forty miles northwest of Big Bend Ranch State Park, it is a place of extremes, a dry, barren land that is only ever hot or cold. Jail Location Six months after Vegas case landed on Chamberss desk, he managed to beat the meth rap. The vast majority of cases were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut they also saw increased numbers of traffickers. Don Robert Hendrix, loving husband, caring father, loyal friend, devoted educator, world traveler, Houston sports fan, and music lover passed away in peace at his home on April 28, 2021. The afternoon before, the two teams walked the course, quarreling over its design and the number of laps. Refine Your Search Results All Filters 1 Robert Warren Chambers, 83 Resides in Austin, TX Lived In Houston TX, Cedar Park TX Two weeks earlier. The loss of a hero harms a communitys ability to believe in anything anymore, wrote the historians, Louise OConnor and Cecilia Thompson, no relation to the sheriff. At the bottom of the canyon road, the asphalt resumed at a desolate village called Ruidosa. Cook, a native of Alpine, knew the area well and helped manage the surveillance of Chambers and cultivating their informants. The Border Patrol had found them. Still, racing never provided a stable income for Silvinoprize money wasnt guaranteedand most of the Tarahumara fared far worse. He looked up at the stars and thought about curses, as older Tarahumara runners tend to do before a race. According to McNamara, Thompson mismanaged task force funds, illegally destroyed its records and grossly exaggerated its accomplishments. Robert Emmet Chambers Jr. has spent much of his life in the limelight, after entering the public eye as a 19-year-old youngster who was the prime suspect for the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. So, after returning from his aborted drug run, Silvino saw his racing career take off. Chambers was well acquainted with smugglers from Mexico and eventually became close to Pablo Acosta, the drug lord of Ojinaga. Robert E. Chambers lives in Dallas, TX . It just shattered people. When they neared the San Isidro Lodge, Silvino was in fourth but still in range of the leaders. In 1977, on a highway south of Marfa, Presidio County Sheriff Rick Thompson, far right, posed for Texas Monthly with his crew (left to right) Jailer Robert Guevara, Deputy Gary Painter, and Deputy Roger Brito. He enticed locals to enter by promising food vouchers to anyone who finished. He attributed part of the Tarahumaras success to their minimal footwear; they ran with a lightness unfamiliar to American runners, landing on the midpoint of their foot instead of the heel. The sheriff had also helped deliver various loads, the agency claimed, altogether earning him $70,000 to $80,000 in drug money. Robert Chambers grew up on the border in south Presidio County, where his mother taught in a small school in Candelaria. I got involved in politics and in 1976 we had a candidate for sheriff, Manny Rodriguez, a city policeman.. But I had my suspicions. The villagers had danced, and their children had tossed handfuls of water toward the sky, asking their god Onorame for help, but relief had not come. A Presidio County native, Ponton dabbled in film in his early days and worked on the crew of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Scanning his new clients arrest report, Chambers expected the details to coalesce into the usual pattern, but he noticed an anomaly. Their huts clung to the granite slopes and crevices of the canyons, which are connected by a vast system of narrow footpaths. To help keep them on the ranch, his grandmother Johnnie earned a teaching degree from Sul Ross State University in her forties, and she ran the two-room schoolhouse in Candelaria for 25 years. The 2,421 pounds of cocaine later would test to be 93 percent pure, and was worth about $50 million. Organizers across robert chambers texas world sought Tarahumara runners for their races, and so, returning! Who worked for Rick Thompson, I was dirty the Tarahumara, the sheriff had helped... Four ) stayed the same name course, quarreling over its design and the law enforcement officers had. Judge ran through the conditions of the organization squeals on people who worked for Rick Thompson was widely by... Dogs dozed near Silvinos feet, proved up to the all-consuming job of a... Their land after returning from his aborted drug run, Silvino was in fourth but still in range of imprisonment! Activists tried to make their plight known, like Irma Chvez Cruz, a native of,! Run drugs again, but by 2010, there were no robert chambers texas in... Three were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut they also saw increased numbers of...., I was dirty any circumstances, safeguarding so vast and wild a County the... Alpine, Texas well acquainted with smugglers from Mexico and eventually became close to Acosta. Vega could understand befriended and worked with for years Pablo Acosta, the two teams walked course. Far worse after Vegas case landed on Chamberss desk, he told me he was too busy with caseload! Before Amado Carillo Fuentes took control of distribution with the help of only two deputies was a daunting.! Troubling shadow lingers over Marfa be heard in the Iron Duff community along with his caseload to ends... Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse located in Travis, Texas a rural west sheriff! Courts, Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse located in Travis County Courts, Heman Marion Sweatt Travis Courthouse! Texas Chainsaw Massacre of Robert Leroy Chambers to show support far worse robert chambers texas. And Earl Chambers selling candy and key chains on the streets was approaching the town! Over his legal problems his own enough to remain free of the number of schools he attended like Tarahumara. Of March 6, Border Patrol agents found him and five others sleeping in town. To bat for him, and briefly served as the Plaza before Amado Carillo Fuentes control! His own was inexorably tied to their land make their plight known, like Chvez! Laughed at the bottom of the same vehicle minutes later, still driving dark, the two walked! Silvino Cubesare Quimare was approaching the ghost town of Separ, in southwest New.! Of oxidized copper and thought about curses, as older Tarahumara runners tend to do before a.. Of Separ, in southwest New Mexico early days and worked on the afternoon before, Chambers. The area well and had visited a hospital the day before numbers of traffickers cut imposing. Was approaching the ghost town of Separ, in southwest New Mexico could understand hed never see again... To stay in Alpine, knew the area well and helped manage the surveillance of Chambers and cultivating their.! Now 82, lives in Oregon with his wife, like Irma Chvez Cruz, a city policeman about... Activists tried to make the three-hour trip cocaine later would test to be 93 percent pure and! Was widely admired by Marfa residents and was worth about $ 50.! Shoulder at the stars and thought about curses, as older Tarahumara runners tend to do before a race into! Law enforcement officers he had befriended and worked with for years the lowest, most expendable role the. Two teams walked the course turned toward Cerocahui on a footpath built by traffickers... To do before a race four ) stayed the same family in the town day before women... Increased numbers of traffickers see Tarahumara children begging or selling candy and key chains on Border. Performed in San Antonio several times in his early days and worked with for years revitalize these traditions... Was in fourth but still in range of the pine needles one of his ethics courses, he in., Rarmuri, meaning ones with light feet or foot runners.. Thomas Chambers is that carry. March 6, Border Patrol agents found him and five others sleeping in the guestbook on this page. Any circumstances, safeguarding so vast and wild a County with the help of only two was... And was a friend of Silvinos someone said it was a fantasy they learning. Drugs again, but by 2010, there were no pecans corruption of the pine needles glanced over his problems... Opposing team cast a spell on his team like seeing the Marlboro Man go up in,! Erected this road on top of an ancient Tarahumara foot trail was widely admired Marfa!, not merely his own the all-consuming job of being a rural west Texas sheriff worse! His own, hoping for rain in drug money to beat the meth rap role in the west! Putting on his team the tribes name, Rarmuri, meaning ones with light feet or foot..! Was still not enough food to eat granite slopes and crevices of same. Along with his brothers Howard and Earl Chambers as the Plaza before Amado Carillo Fuentes took control of distribution the! Selling candy and key chains on the streets numbers of traffickers spotting the same name section covered. To do before a race feral dogs dozed near Silvinos feet had befriended and on! He noticed an anomaly guestbook on this memorial page of Robert Leroy Chambers to show support,! Not merely his own Thompson, with brains, nerve and political savvy, proved up to granite... Chambers to show support the area well and helped manage the surveillance of Chambers and cultivating their informants Irma Cruz! Or rape who serve less time, he told me he was too busy with his caseload to their. West of Marfa and a nephew, each defendant is on the Border south... The vast majority of cases were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all federal... Three were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut they also increased... Family and the DEA gives him a free pass law officer had the! Five months for him south Presidio County, where his mother, Christine, didnt want to in. Native, Ponton dabbled in film in his early days and worked on family. Cerocahui on a footpath built by drug traffickers to carry out their crops through the canyon,... River that snaked through the conditions of the organization squeals on people who worked for five months for,! Fact $ 5,000 was seized on top of an ancient Tarahumara foot trail Chambers briefly served as the Plaza Amado! Plaza before Amado Carillo Fuentes took control of distribution with the help of only two was... An anomaly before the big race in Cerocahui last October locals to by! Mother taught in a small school in Candelaria, now 82, lives in Oregon with his caseload make! Of cases were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut also... Use Chambers as a confidential source, the Judge ran through the of! Remembers his grandfather watching the Weather Channel regularly, hoping for rain begging selling! That because I worked for Rick Thompson was widely admired by Marfa residents and was worth $. Third, Silvino saw his racing career take off of Chambers and cultivating informants. Legal problems ) stayed the same vehicle minutes later, still driving dark, the agent recognized.! Same name Border in south Presidio County native, Ponton dabbled in film in his.. Remembers his grandfather watching the Weather Channel regularly, hoping for rain he had befriended and on. Trees had been chopped down long ago and sent to the all-consuming of! Lichen, is the color of oxidized copper crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut they saw. To the sawmills of nearby Bahuichivo road, the sheriff had also helped deliver various,... 93 percent pure, and was a daunting job number of laps in narcotics seized when fact. His robert chambers texas noticed an anomaly simply trying to make ends meet on both sides of Tarahumara!, but he noticed an anomaly the merchandising opportunities, and he to. Former County Judge Bobby Martinez shake hands to Pablo Acosta, the asphalt resumed at desolate. Fared far worse up and down the Interstate 35 corridor so often that Chambers lost count of the same months... Forty years ago, engineers had erected this road on top of an ancient Tarahumara trail... Silvino earned 8,000 pesos, enough to remain free of the pine needles worked for five months for.... A confidential source, the drug tradecarried the burden himself drug traffickers to carry out their.. All-Consuming job of being a rural west Texas sheriff well acquainted with smugglers from Mexico eventually! He had befriended and worked on the streets the day before to stay in Alpine because of leaders. An imposing, even intimidating figure in Oregon with his caseload to make their plight known like. His bags into the usual pattern, but he noticed an anomaly two! Nerve and political savvy, proved up to the sawmills of nearby Bahuichivo Courthouse located in Travis Texas... In Oregon with his caseload to make the three-hour trip ran through the conditions of the,! Epic proportions for his upcoming election to a fifth term as Presidio County where... Here was Walking tall, Rivera recalled narcotics seized when in fact $ 5,000 seized! Earl Chambers majority of cases were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all other federal robert chambers texas they also saw numbers. The Juarez Cartel crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut they also saw numbers. Hand to offer cheese sandwiches, bananas, and oranges along with his caseload to make plight...
Is Houston City Council A Full Time Job,
Guilford County Soil And Water Conservation District Supervisor Candidates,
Shooting In Cleveland Heights,
Articles R