He got along with almost everybody, except those he locked up. 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. Lookup the home address, phone numbers, email address for this person. As Silvino continued to ascend, the only sounds were the buzz of white-eared hummingbirds and the musical trills of canyon and rock wrens. He also made a cryptic remark that wounded every law enforcement agent in the Big Bend. Now 73, he lives in Midland, Texas with his wife, and remains close to his two sons and daughter. He now lives in Granbury, Texas. Although many still believe he was not directly involved in smuggling for an extended period of time, the DEA disputes this and pins several more tons of cocaine and marijuana smuggling on him for at least six years before his arrest. She helped organize the largest-ever recorded rarajipari in ChihuahuaSilvino led one of the teamsand together they traveled to Brazil, in October 2015, for the inaugural World Indigenous Games. Meanwhile, as ultramarathons surged in popularity, American runners began crushing previously held records. Show Phone. Hell walk straight. Of course, drug traffickers also know this. He found a friend to front him enough to get to Janos, the first town on his route back. Thompson was president of the Sheriffs Association of Texas, headed a multi-county drug task force, and was prominent in working with federal officials in the war on drugs. Up here, he realized, right before the 2008 Semana Santa celebrations, assassins from the Sinaloa cartel had kidnapped around a dozen people from Uriquethe chief of police, other officers, government officialsand beheaded all but two, whom they sent back to town, stripped naked and hands tied, to tell the story. Ponton, a defense attorney, was hired by Chambers for a weapons charge and suddenly found himself defending a man busted with a ton of cocaine. Robert Chambers was the head of the organization. Chambers remembers his grandfather watching the Weather Channel regularly, hoping for rain. The sheriff had also helped deliver various loads, the agency claimed, altogether earning him $70,000 to $80,000 in drug money. He and his cousins would be paid 15,000 pesos ($825) apiece. Fisher struck deals with sponsors; he paid his runners with bags of corn and beans. His attire was perfect pressed jeans, starched shirt, Stetson tilted and a gun on his hip, they noted. Thompson in a portrait with his jail staff. February 10, 1946 - March 16, 2019 Tribute Wall Obituary & Events Share a memory Send Flowers Obituary Robert "Bob" Chambers, 73, of Elma, Iowa passed away Saturday, March 16, 2019 at home surrounded by his loving family. 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. 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. His stature as a political figure and a leader of law enforcement at the time made people seek him out for advice. Four days later, he was ordered held without bond, shocking his supporters. If I dont take the risk during a race, then I dont get any reward.. 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. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. I felt this sickness in my gut. Soon after, his mother was arrested for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Then the judge asked Vega if he had anything to add. I have never heard 1992 Press Photo Grand Isle Mayor Andy Valence addressing the City Council . The next day, he drove two hours with Liz Rogers, a thirty-year former federal defender known for pulling out long-shot victories, to the West Texas Detention Facility, in Sierra Blanca, to see Vega. Robert Chambers grew up on the border in south Presidio County, where his mother taught in a small school in Candelaria. Cook, a U.S. Customs agent, was DEA agent Dale Stinsons partner. The head of the organization squeals on people who worked for him, and the DEA gives him a free pass. far west texas when austin-based journalist rob d'amico started calling west texans in 2017, asking what they knew about robert chambers, rick thompson and the 1991 billion dollar bust of a cocaine-filled horse trailer in presidio county, many "quite frankly said, 'this is done, you don't need to dredge it up,'" d'amico said in an interview They discovered what they believed to be a large load of cocaine covered by several bales of hay and empty feed sacks, Stinson testified. A pair of uncles on his moms side also went to prison for drug offenses, and so did a paternal uncle. He accompanied her to court as an intern. AKA: Robert C Chambers, Claude Chambers, Bob Chambers Work: - Electrical Contractor, Amarillo Construction LLC - Chief Executive Officer College: TEXAS STATE TECH COLLEGE WEST TEXAS High School: TASCOSA HIGH SCHOOL View Reputation Profile Robert Wayne Chambers , 59 Lives in Leander, TX AKA: Robert W Chambers He hadnt eaten anything, not even the pocket-size bean burritos and salsa he normally ran with. While Thompson, 72, is unlikely to return to Marfa, the painful story of his fall from grace soon will be told here again. Any other way, Chambers learned, and the courthouse would be backed up for years. Chambers thought about how Vega wouldnt be there for his two sons as they grew into their teens. There, they removed 40 heavy sacks, each marked with a blue polo player, the signature of a Colombian drug cartel. 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. There was little shade, and he dropped down on a set of steps next to four old. Cartel recruiters trolled the gas stations and plazas of small Mexican towns. The American ultramarathoner Micah True got to know some of the Tarahumara runners in Leadville, and he was so changed by the experience that he later moved to the Sierra Madre. At that time Manny told us this guy is involved in the drug business but we didnt believe it, he said. We hadnt seen another car in two hours. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents left him in Jurez without enough money for a bus ticket home. e cartel war ricocheted from one canyon to the next, Urique became one of the last towns to be engulfed by intense violence. They currently reside in Houston with their son, William. Meanwhile, budget cuts meant the number of lawyers (four) stayed the same. He had to have demonstrated loyalty to the people who were moving this type of narcotics, Barajas said. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hardin United Methodist Church Choir, which she loved being a part of. The vast majority of cases were for illegal entryimmigration crimes eclipsed all other federal offensesbut they also saw increased numbers of traffickers. The end came quickly for Thompson: On Jan. 9, 1992, he was indicted on four federal drug offenses, and was suspended as sheriff. True wondered how they would fare against the Tarahumara, and he sought to revitalize these local traditions. Looking back, former DEA agent Stinson said the Marfa drug case neither was the biggest nor most interesting of his career. When youre desperate, youll do anything. Wearing sandals and swigging beers at the final aid station before the finish, the Tarahumara runners captured first, second, and fifth place and left behind hundreds of mesmerized competitors and fans. He had to run. Now 56, he lives in El Paso. Chambers, a violent, lawless man long suspected of drug. He is preceded in death by his parents, Ralph E. and Lois C. Chambers also of Winter Haven. That was my last case, and Rick was kind of the orchestra leader in trying to coordinate relationships with not only the witnesses, but the local people and federal authorities. Testifying at the Jan 13 detention hearing, Stinson said Thompson and Chambers each had stood to earn $500,000 for getting the load to San Antonio or Houston. All I know is I worked for five months for him. Im fighting for money, hed told himself. In the years ahead, she cycled in and out of prison for similar charges. Now, 26 years after Thompson was sent to federal prison, his troubling shadow lingers over Marfa. Theyre some of the toughest people in the world.. Silvino wore athletic gear and blue-and-yellow Asicsthe trails were too slippery, the roads too hard, for huaraches. Not in West Texas. Nobody was warming up when he arrived; the Tarahumara dont stretch. Rogers, a family friend, was now a private attorney and had also been assigned a member of the group. Robert and Kimberly both received bachelor's degrees in business administration from Texas A&M and were members of the Fellows program. Ten minutes after six, the runners approached the starting line, adjacent to the, three-hundred-year-old red-earthen, yellow-domed Jesuit church, and took off. Hed told me that sometimes he felt fated to stay in West Texas, and yet he often felt apart from it. He ate a sandwich and drank a bottle of Coca-Cola. From then on gunfire could routinely be heard in the town and up the canyon. It was around the twelve-mile mark. He was starting to feel betterthe steep climbs were behind himand though he wouldnt be able to catch the leader, he thought he could finish second or third. He and his cousins would be paid 15,000 pesos ($825) apiece. During the day, they slept beneath frayed creosote bushes, concealing their bags nearby, and at night they trudged north toward the freeway, avoiding rattlesnakes, coyotes, and most of all, la migra, the Border Patrol. 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. They were taken from Chambers county, Ala., by said Ware to Texas some-where about the year 1847. They lived in the same indigent neighborhood on the edge of Chihuahua. Then again, he spent much of his life severed from them. Yes, Robert Chambers is alive. At 10:42, the first runner appeared on the cobblestone alley leading to the finish. A pair of feral dogs dozed near Silvinos feet. Still, he got paid only if he successfully completed his mission. 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. It was at least forty miles through the driest landscape Id ever seen. Vega readily told him what had happenedas he did to the agents who arrested him, along with all but one in his groupbut when Chambers described his offense, Vega couldnt understand why the charges were so severe. Then, all at once, they saw the spotlights. Chambers, who cooperated with the DEA, got life also but was released after serving 18 years. Chambers, now 65, was quick to cooperate with federal officials and only served 13 years of a life sentence. A pair of uncles on his moms side also went to prison for drug offenses, and so did a paternal uncle. Copyright Texas Monthly 2023. 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. This is a carousel. During the race, the slower runners tended to set the early pace, while the closers bided their time. For reasons that later became clear, Thompson would have nothing to do with the Drug Enforcement Administration, although he was close to other federal agents. St. Robert, MO. 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. John MacCormack has been covering South Texas and the Mexican border for the past 35 years, first for the Dallas Times Herald and since 1992 for the Express-News. In his book on his travels through the Sierra Madre mountains, Unknown Mexico, he recounts that when the Jesuits first arrived and asked the Tarahumara about the canyons depth, they replied, Only the birds know., For centuries the Tarahumara got by as subsistence farmers. Robert F Chambers Address: 1414 W 51st St Austin, TX 78756 Name: Robert F Chambers Address: 1414 W 51st St Austin, TX 78756 Phone: (512) 454-6544 Dwelling Type: Single Family Dwelling Unit Length of Residence: 15+ years Median Home Value: $1,201,000 Median Household Income: $311,000 Vehicle: 1995 1998 FORD RANGER Report ID: 99303825 And he was making a pittance compared to Robert and ACF (Amado Carillo Fuentes. Related:President Ford's visit to San Antonio included culinary oops. Silvino remembered the women in Huisuchi who used to weave baskets out of the pine needles. His stomach was roiling. Then, with the path hugging a creek, he entered tiny Porochi. The Border Patrol had found them. 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