‘DWI Dude’ law firm jailed for scamming Colombian drug cartels

A Texas legal professional recognised as the “DWI Dude” has been sentenced to federal prison for 16 a long time for his section in scamming Colombian drug traffickers out of $1.5 million.

Jamie Balagia, 65, of Collin County, was found guilty of “conspiring with a Florida private investigator and Colombian attorney in 2014, to swindle Colombian drug traffickers less than the guise of bribing officers in the United States,” neighborhood ABC Information stations claimed.

Balaga was section of a group of persons who claimed that in trade for inflated “attorney expenses,” they would bribe federal government officials “resulting in either the dismissal of their prison charges or significant reductions in their US federal prison sentences. In actuality, there have been no bribes or federal government officials,” the station reviews.

“We stay in a place with the best procedure of justice in the earth,” Performing US Attorney Nicholas Ganjei advised ABC.

“That method, even so, can’t functionality when officers of the court are corrupt. The evidence in this scenario shown that Balagia had been shaking down his consumers for years by proclaiming that he was capable to order favorable discounts from prosecutors and judges alike. The Department of Justice will defend our Justice program vigorously and will prosecute predatory legal professionals like Balagia each individual one time they are discovered.”