The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, March 03, 1983, Image 7

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    ilion/R
'ch3‘
state
Battalion/Page 7
March 3, 1983
^Vil e of judge’s murderer
reused of lying to jury
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AGGIE COWBOYS
1ST ANNUAL
SOFTBALL
ROUND-UP
\
H United Press International
'"SHREVEPORT, La— Jo
■ Harrelson purchased a
fie believed used in a contract
Uihg of a federal judge,
■nged for the pickup of
lyoff money and then told
old and calculating lies” to a
rand jury, a prosecutor said
Wednesday.
^Harrelson was charged with
ing five times to a grand jury
J vestigating the May 1979
tsasMnation of U.S. District
idge John Wood Jr. in San
ijtonio.
In exchange for her coopera-
pn with the grand jury, Harrel-
jn was guaranteed her testi-
iom would not be used against
er unless she committed per-
Ity before the panel.
■The government will prove
(answers that she gave (to the
grand jury) were cold and deli
berate and calculating lies,”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray
Jahn told jurors in an opening
statement.
Harrelson, 42, is the wife of
contract killer Charles Harrel
son, who was convicted in
Wood’s slaying by the same jury
that found Mrs. Harrelson guil
ty of obstructing justice.
A third defendant, Elizabeth
Chagra, was convicted of con
spiring to commit murder. Her
husband, El Paso gambler
Jamiel Chagra, yvas found inno
cent in a Florida trial of hiring
Harrelson to kill Wood but was
convicted on a marijuana distri
bution charge.
Harrelson is serving a 40-year
Texas prison term on weapons
charges, and Chagra is jailed for
continued criminal enterprise
Aliens killed
to set ‘example’
■ United Press International
[MlCHMOND — One of four
ialvadorans shot to death July
|6 along the banks of the Brazos
S»er near Richmond was killed
‘■frighten other illegal aliens
md their families into paying in
creased smuggling fees, pro-
tecutors said.
"“■Prosecutors made their com-
pents Tuesday at the opening
)f the capital murder trial of
. Juan Ramon Ortiz, charged with
..Wiling Ramon Tercios — one of
the four Salvadorans.
_■ Prosecutors identified Ortiz
■ a member of the notorious
‘‘Las Tejas” illegal alien smug
gling ring from Mexico. They
■d members of the smuggling
gang became angry when rela
tives of several Salvadorans
smuggled into this country in
trucks refused to pay smuggling
fees which were higher than
those originally demanded.
Prosecutors said one
“coyote,” or member of the
smuggling gang, was killed dur
ing a shootout with relatives of
an alien from El Salvador, and
gang members retaliated by kill
ing the four Salvadorans. The
smugglers wanted to set an ex
ample for other clients who re
fused to meet the increased
smuggling fees, prosecutors
said.
Ortiz was one of 13 people
indicted in the killings.
TDC penalized
in job sex suit
f United Press International
HOUSTON — The Texas
en bepartment of Corrections was
,a lined over $14,000 for contempt
pf court for failing to reinstate a
woman who claims she was de
moted from her job because of
^ her sex.
n Rw U.S. District Judge Carl Bue
on Tuesday ordered the prison
system to pay Rosemary Sebas-
eel jian $14,483.20 for failing to
^ jheet his March 1982 order to
ia ,'' restore her title and duties as
health services administrator
1 e pending a trial on her sex discri-
,na mination suit.
I 'Bue calculated the exact pen
alty on the basis of the claimed
damages, including attorney
fees, to Sebastian.
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and cocaine possession.
Mrs. Harrelson was convicted
in December of obstructing jus
tice and earlier was found guilty
and sentenced to three years in
jail for using a false name to pur
chase a rifle allegedly used in
Wood’s slaying.
Jahn told jurors Mrs. Harrel
son and her husband talked
Mrs. Harrelson’s daughter,
Teresa Starr, into traveling to
Las Vegas, Nev., to pick up
$250,000 in payoff money for
the judge’s slaying. During
grand jury testimony, Mrs. Har
relson denied any knowledge of
her daughter’s trip to Las Vegas
and said she never had seen
Starr with more than $ 1,000 in
cash.
Jahn told jurors, however,
that Mrs. Harrelson not only
helped plan the Las Vegas trip
but actually took the money
from her daughter.
“Jo Ann Harrelson counted
out first $4,000 and handed it to
Teresa Starr and then, at the in
sistence of Charles Harrelson,
counted out another $ 1,000 and
gave it to her (Starr),” Jahn said.
Mrs. Harrelson is accused of
lying to the grand jury twice
when she denied purchasing the
rifle in Dallas and when she said
she never used the alias Fay L.
King-
Prosecutors said she also lied
about her knowledge of her
daughter’s trip to Nevada and
the handling of the money.
Prosecutors had claimed
Chagra contracted for Wood’s
death because the judge, known
as “Maximum John” for the
harsh sentences he handed drug
dealers, was to sentence him for
a drug conviction.
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Sebastian’s lawyer, Evelyn Jo
Wilson, said the award is a fine
that is paid to the plaintiff. She
said Bue ordered Sebastian rein
stated in March 1982 because
she was likely to win her case and
failure to reinstate her would re
sult in added damages charged
to TDC.
“For TDC’s failure to comply,
we were entitled to a compensa
tory fine remedying the effects
of the defendants’ failure to
comply,” Wilson said.
She said TDC denies Sebas
tian was demoted because of her
sex but claims her reassignment
from the position in the health
services division was part of a
reorganization.
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