Last Gangster in Austin
eBook - ePub

Last Gangster in Austin

Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard Mafia

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Last Gangster in Austin

Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard Mafia

About this book

Ronnie Earle was a Texas legend. During his three decades as the district attorney responsible for Austin and surrounding Travis County, he prosecuted corrupt corporate executives and state officials, including the notorious US congressman Tom DeLay. But Earle maintained that the biggest case of his career was the one involving Frank Hughey Smith, the ex-convict millionaire, alleged criminal mastermind, and Dixie Mafia figure.

With the help of corrupt local authorities, Smith spent the 1970s building a criminal empire in auto salvage and bail bonds. But there was one problem: a rival in the salvage business threatened his dominance. Smith hired arsonists to destroy the rival; when they botched the job, he sent three gunmen, but the robbery they planned was a bloody fiasco. Investigators were convinced that Smith was guilty, but many were skeptical that the newly elected and inexperienced Earle could get a conviction. Amid the courtroom drama and underworld plots the book describes, Willie Nelson makes a cameo. So do the private eyes, hired guns, and madams who kept Austin not only weird but also riddled with vice. An extraordinary true story, Last Gangster in Austin paints an unusual picture of the Texas capital as a place that was wild, wonderful, and as crooked as the dirt road to paradise.

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Yes, you can access Last Gangster in Austin by Jesse Sublett in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Praise for Last Gangster in Austin
  3. Series Page
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Contents
  8. Epigraph
  9. Author’s Note a Deep Dive
  10. Introduction. Junkyard Owner Shotguns Robber: Was It a Setup?
  11. Baptist Preacher’s Son
  12. The Eagle Scout
  13. Texas Package
  14. The Big Hassle
  15. Best Job He Ever Had
  16. The Two Franks
  17. This Is War
  18. He Can Always Go Step on Bugs
  19. A Is for Arson
  20. The Robbery
  21. Power
  22. Star Time
  23. The Trial
  24. Aftermath
  25. Acknowledgments
  26. Notes
  27. Photo Credits
  28. Index