All language subtitles for American Greed s15e22 Drunk with Power

You're watching CNBC On Demand.

In this episode of American Greed, Jamie
Bellagio is a billboard lawyer,

Texas style.

Go with the winning team.

He's got cowboy outfits, a silly
nickname.

Hi, I'm Jamie Bellagio, the DWID.

And outrageous marketing stunts.

Two and a half drinks says I should be
drunk. Cheap day. You'll never get to

jail that way.

Bellagio is well known as the DWI dude,
representing clients accused of drunk

driving. He even runs for attorney
general on a pro -marijuana platform.

Give me the stoners every day of the
week.

But the feds say this cowboy lawyer is a
criminal who runs a clever con

targeting his clients.

The insinuation was people.

would be paid off, but a lot of money
apparently was needed for these bribes.

Things get dicey when Malaysia targets,
of all people, international drug

cartels. It tells me he had a set on
him.

And steps inside a prison in Colombia.

It's a very bad place.

American Greed has an exclusive
interview with the prosecutor who led a

blockbuster narco case.

His greed struck them justice.

And notes from the dude himself who
tells American Greed, what a dummy I

You cannot scam the cartel without them
finding out.

In March of 2016, a highly unusual case
lands on the desk of FBI Special Agent

Jason Rennie.

Inside a FedEx box sent from Columbia is
a hidden camera video.

It purports to be evidence of a bribery
scheme involving U .S. officials.

The very...

Beginning of the recording, you can see
that the room that they're in is being

set up. There's cameras that are being
put in. It's very apparent that the room

is being set up to be recorded.

But the man recording the video is not a
cop.

He's a drug kingpin facing extradition
to the United States and the possibility

of many years in prison.

This room that looks like a hotel is
actually his jail cell in Bogota,

Together with his brother.

They produced more cocaine than anyone
else in the world.

During the scope of the investigation,
they produced and put into commerce

between 750 ,000 and a million kilos of
cocaine.

In the video, the cartel boss is meeting
with his legal team, including his

American lawyer, Jamie Belasia.

The feds allege the lawyers have taken
seven figures in cash from the cartel.

promising to act as brokers of a bribe.
They say they can pay off American

judges, prosecutors, and DEA agents.

He had hired Jamie Bellagio on the
promise that the charges in the United

would go away.

We have people in the United States that
can make your charges disappear,

essentially go away.

And in return for that, he paid them,
the original number was $1 .5 million.

He wants to know exactly what has
happened since the beginning when he

money. It gets even stranger.

Malaysia is not some high -flying
international lawyer, the kind who

people like Pablo Escobar and El Chapo
Guzman.

Far from it.

Back home in Austin, Texas, Belasia is a
billboard lawyer with goofy ads known

as the DWI dude.

I'm Jamie Belasia, the DWI dude.

If stopped for DWI, never surrender your
rights. You don't wander into these

waters and just do this like, hey, I
just decided I want to go work high

extradition cases.

You're going to want the best at your
side.

Belasia, just from his lack of
experience with the fish out of water,

really played up his connections in
Texas.

But are the connections a con?

The drug kingpin apparently has recorded
this meeting because he thinks Malaysia

has stolen his bribe money.

Agent Rennie's first thought is, play me
a sad song on the world's smallest

violin.

You might have a jury sympathy problem,
right? Nonetheless, the allegations

related to public corruption, the FBI
takes seriously.

Is Jamie Malaysia a criminal mastermind
with corrupt judges in his pocket?

Or is he running a scam on an
unsympathetic yet very dangerous victim?

It seems so outrageous that somebody
would attempt to pull something over on

some of the top cocaine producers in
Colombia.

Don't want to screw over someone who's
got the resources that these guys have.

Jamie Malaysia has always been fearless.
He starts his career on the other side

as a cop, banging down doors.

Sex for hire, gambling, tonography. This
is the beat for the Austin Vice detail.

In 1986, he joins the Austin Police
Department's Vice Squad, targeting

prostitution.

Gene Frydenberg is his boss.

You're fixing to get your ass put in
jail. Do you understand that?

Nearby, the hooker's nightmare, Vice
Squad Senior Sergeant Gene Frydenberg.

They're just going to have to clean up
their act, and we just wish they'd go

somewhere else and do it.

They would be seven, eight, ten of them
on the street corner. They would use

businesses parking lots to conduct their
business.

Frydenberg says Belasia, seen here on
plainclothes duty, is a well -liked and

valuable member of the team, though he
definitely likes to have a good time.

You know, a lot of those guys would get
paid on Friday and have a big weekend,

come in broke on Monday, live on the
credit union for another 10 days.

Sure, there's a yellow flag or two, but
nothing red.

That is, until one Sunday morning.

We got a call from DEA and said that one
of our undercover cars had been seen in

Houston at a drug dealer's house.

Who do you think's driving this BMW?

I said, hell, I know who's driving it.

And that was when Jamie's name came up.

Turns out, Malaysia hasn't been keeping
his nose clean.

He said something about, well, they went
down to get an eight ball to party

with. Malaysia goes away to rehab, and
when he returns to the PD, he's been

demoted.

He's now a glorified parking lot
attendant, checking impounded cars in

of a lot.

It's a blow to your ego, you know, to...

Everybody's looking, you know, hey, look
what he's doing now, you know.

Frydenberg visits his protege, crushed
by boredom, who asks, what should I do?

And I said, well, if you enjoy checking
cars in and out for the next 30 years, I

would stay here.

But if you don't want to do that, then
you need to find something else.

And that's when he said, well, I've been
thinking about law school.

A few years later, Belasia is a defense
attorney.

And in a college town with a lively bar
scene, there's no shortage of people

accused of drunk driving.

So Belasia decides to specialize in DWI.

There's just one problem. Those in need
of his services often have trouble

remembering his name.

People couldn't spell Jamie Belasia to
get me in a Google search, so I had to

find some way to get that marketing out
there.

And I was... One day I was doodling, and
I kept writing down DWI, DWI, and one

of my best friends calls me and says,
hey, dude, he always called me dude.

That was his name for me. And I went DWI
dude.

Hi, I'm Jamie Belasia, the DWI dude.

He's very creative, and he just decided
DWI dude.

I'm going to be the DWI dude.

What should I do if I get pulled over
for DWI?

And that's when it all changed.

We like to tell people when you get
pulled over by the police, it's best to

what to do at that point.

Instead of business cards, Belasia
passes out poker chips and koozies, even

the courtroom.

He'd be handing out the poker chips,
pens, and the judge would be like, Mr.

Belasia, you know, you need to take it
down a notch, but he would just keep

doing it.

Business takes off.

From his law office in the small town of
Manor, east of Austin.

Malaysia takes on hundreds of DWI cases.

And his promise to get defendants off on
charges isn't just a flashy sales

tactic. Malaysia is winning cases.

Created this niche for himself with DWI
cases.

And he kind of portrayed himself as kind
of like a man of the people.

You know, he was here to protect your
rights, try to get these BS charges

dropped. Refuse the breath test.

If they get a blood search warrant, we
can attack it in court.

He apparently was very successful.

His success in the courtroom spurs him
to expand into San Antonio, where he

opens a second office.

The outrageous marketing continues.

Malaysia drives vehicles emblazoned with
the DWI dude phone number.

I was an undercover officer with the
Austin Police Department for a number of

years. He creates instructional YouTube
videos like these.

If you begin the test before they tell
you to start, that counts as a clue

against you.

And he sponsors events at local bars.

We're here with Jamie, the DWI dude.

He would go to bars in San Antonio and
take that machine and hook it up. Go

ahead and blow.

And we would just let people blow in it.
And they just think that's the funnest

thing. Two and a half drinks says I
should be drunk.

Cheap day.

Then he would say, well, I was an ex
-cop and I used to arrest DWIs.

Cops love to tell you, keep blowing,
keep blowing, keep blowing.

Push that number over in L .A. Back in
our day, we would just throw them out

cop car in their front yard.

And he's like, things aren't like that
anymore.

And that's like how he would start
things.

Mike there used to be a state patrolman.
I'm a former police officer. Dave's a

former police officer.

So, you know, our friends and family
members are cops.

So I think that had a lot to do with why
people liked him.

I appreciate that. I appreciate every
single person who came here.

Sometimes he would sponsor events. He
would ask people to put his phone number

into their phone. We always tell people
to put the number to our office in their

cell phone so you can call us instantly.
And I get calls on my phone from people

that are being pulled over. And they
would scroll through their contacts and

that they had already saved it right
there under dude.

In short, his message is, I'm a miracle
worker, and I'll get you out of a jam.

His overall attitude was, I'm your man.
I can take care of this. I got you.

Anthony Felsing is battling alcohol
addiction when he hires Belasia.

At the time, I was new into AA.

You know, to me, it was almost like...

Someone that I can look up to and talk
to because I was fresh

in this program working through the
steps.

Jamie had been an alcoholic and he
admits that. And so when he had clients

had real substance abuse issues, he
could identify with that.

And he would talk to them as somebody
who'd been there and he didn't judge it.

You know, his story was, I was a bad
cop, I had a bad drug addiction, I

myself up. You believed in what he was
saying.

Before he entered recovery, Felsing was
charged with his third GWI and is now

looking at up to 12 years in prison.

I knew I was facing an uphill battle.

He guaranteed me that he could get this
taken away, it would go away, I might

get probation at the most.

Felsing believes him.

After all, Belasia has been successful
in many other DWI cases.

When he meets with Belasia to discuss
his case, Felsing finds that the dude's

courtroom strategy might be more than
his ads presented to be.

And as he stated, we're going to make
campaign contributions. He was tied in

with the local judge.

Yeah, I do this all the time.

And he did know a lot of people, and he
did have a lot of friends, but it's

irresponsible and unethical to suggest
that your connections to judges

or lawyers or friends or anything will
influence anything in anybody's case.

Though Belasia never says the word
bribe, that's what Felsing hears.

And I knew what he was saying. You know,
I think everyone in the room knew what

he was saying.

And with the prospect of 12 years behind
bars, he is willing to go along with

Velez's supposed plan.

He makes his first of several payments
for $5 ,000, which he understands will

not fund painstaking legal work so much
as fat envelopes.

Naturally, I'm thinking, thank God, I
might get probation. So I went ahead and

paid him. And it was almost as if they
were like, okay, we threw the hook out

there and this guy took it.

Up next, he's a real -life Saul Goodman.
How does Jamie Bellagio go from local

yokel to cartel consigliere?

How does Jamie Bellagio go from driving
an RV around Austin to arranging bribes

for cocaine kingpins?

FBI agent Jason Rennie learns that
Bellagio is not just the DWI dude.

He's added another nickname, the 420
dude.

He was also the big kind of advocate of
legalizing marijuana.

Bellagio even runs for attorney general
of Texas on a pro -legalization

platform.

I've got to tell you, as a police
officer, when I pulled over people who

stoned or dealt with people who were
smoking weed as opposed to people on

alcohol, give me the stoners every day
of the week. But what can he gain from

being the Libertarian Party's candidate?

He got, I don't know, like 700 votes,
and he was excited.

Excited because in his mind, he's won.

He thought running also, again, is a
marketing.

You know, more people would see him.
He'd be in front of everybody, so he

get more drug -type cases. More drug
-type cases. He's about to catch a very

one indeed.

In the fall of 2014, Bellagio takes an
introductory phone call with Ernest

Gonzalez, a federal prosecutor who
helped bring down the Zeta cartel.

Because of threats to his life, he
rarely speaks publicly.

But he has given an exclusive interview
to American Greed about his blockbuster

cocaine trafficking case, one of the
biggest in U .S. history.

In total, we indicted 167 individuals in
the U .S. and Central America and South

America. Jamie Belasia has been hired as
defense attorney for a couple of the

men at the top of Gonzalez's 167 -man
pyramid.

He schedules an off -the -record chat
with the prosecutor.

Eventually, he reached out to me,
contacted me, told me who he was. I

his advertisements on the radio.

That's the most I knew about him.

He was going to go to Colombia to visit
with his client.

And what is it that I was wanting from
his client? I told him that we wanted

cooperation.

Malaysia learned that Gonzalez's case
took years to build, and it's all based

trading information.

In 2010, it started simple enough. There
was a seizure of 10 kilos of cocaine

and 515 pounds of marijuana from a
defendant here in the Dallas area.

That defendant agreed to cooperate, and
that's how the case goes, persuading

small players to give up the bigger
players, climbing the ladder one rung at

time. The individual showed up with $1
.7 million, and that's what $1 .7

looks like.

Gonzalez's team traces the flow of
cocaine from the U .S. through the Zeta

cartel in Mexico, and ultimately all the
way to the source, cocaine super labs

hidden deep in the jungles of Colombia,
run by two brothers, Aldemar and Segundo

de Yota Segura.

Segundo is one of Malaysia's new
clients.

Aldemar and Segundo Villota Segura were
operating the largest working cocaine

laboratory in the world. I think we
estimated that in a year's time it was

,000 kilos of cocaine.

We estimated that it was $1 .5 billion.

At first, Segundo Segura agrees to
cooperate.

He provides information about the
location of labs, and the feds seize

and boats.

But then he stops cooperating for some
reason.

Because he stopped cooperating, we then
execute the order to arrest.

He's arrested, and he's taken to La
Picota.

With the charges he's facing, it would
take a miracle worker to help escape

extradition. So why has Segundo Segura
suddenly gone silent?

The government says Segura believes he
has a get -out -of -jail -free card in

his back pocket in the form of Jamie
Belasia.

Malaysia is introduced to the cartel
through this man, a private investigator

named Chuck Morgan.

Morgan lives in both Florida and
Columbia, and the government says he was

an informant for the DEA.

It sounds like he had a very colorful
past, working with the CIA, working with

the DEA.

And during the trial, there were
photographs.

Of him was Colombian government
officials wore a big cowboy hat and a

beard. He was quite a character.

Over margaritas and coffee for the dude,
the feds alleged that the Colombian

-connected Morgan puts Malaysia in touch
with Segundo Segura, who was looking

for an American lawyer with friends in
high places, people who can grease the

wheels of justice.

The insinuation was, people...

would be paid off in washington dc then
the case would disappear but a lot of

money apparently was needed for these
bribes asian renny is curious has

made similar promises before did he swim
into the deep end did he make a mistake

did he get over his head does he have a
personal issue that put him in the

situation that he needed money was he
desperate or is it a pattern Another

Malaysia client, DWI defendant Anthony
Felsing, has waited more than a year and

given approximately $50 ,000 to the
lawyer. And he still has a long prison

sentence hanging over his head.

But Felsing says Malaysia claims he's
got an eight in the hole, a crooked

he refers to simply as Jack.

You know, Jamie, what's going on with
the case? Oh, me and Jack got it worked

out. Don't worry about it.

You know, I was in Jack's chambers the
other day, and we were talking about

case, and don't worry about it. Just
keep making your payments, and

will be good.

But instead of salvation, he gets more
bad news.

Once all my money was paid off, then it
was, well, I don't know if I'm going to

be able to get you that deal. It's
probably going to take more money.

Malaysia's got to go.

Anthony Felsing's thousands are suddenly
unimportant when Malaysia has millions

on the line.

A big tuna named Segura down in Bogota.

This was something different, and it
sounded like a great adventure.

I think that was as much, honestly, as
the greed part of it.

I found it exciting.

Up next.

Malaysia's big adventure has him rubbing
elbows with people who keep bad

company. El Chapo was put on that list.
Vladimir Putin was put on that list.

DWI law has been good to Jamie Valesian.

The lawyer lives like a gentleman farmer
on 161 acres with a herd of burros.

He apparently was very successful.

His firm netted like millions of dollars
every year.

He's got it made in the shade.

But he's not content to rat there.

He's got an itch to take on a really big
case.

Defending cocaine kingpin...

Segundo Segura.

It's a very specialized area involving
extradition law, the laws of

Colombia. He was way out of his depth.

It didn't appear that he knew exactly
how this worked.

The assistant U .S. attorney prosecuting
the Segura case, Ernest Gonzalez, says

he tries to warn Malaysia about the
pitfalls of international drug cases.

For example, Any money a defense
attorney accepts from clients has to be

It can't be from the proceeds of drug
sales.

He kept indicating, I understand.

I'll comply with whatever. I understand
what I'm getting into.

So we left it at that.

He's the dude. He is the DWI dude.

Furthermore, Segundo Segura is on the
OFAC list, the Office of Foreign Assets

Control. It's a rogue gallery of enemies
of the United States.

El Chapo, Guzman was put on that list.

Vladimir Putin was put on that list
after, you know, the invasion of

They're cut off from the U .S. financial
system.

Despite Gonzalez's warnings, Bellagio
proceeds with the case, seemingly

convinced that his magic touch will work
as well in international law as it does

in Texas.

But Bellagio cartel clients are not
happy.

That's obvious to FBI Special Agent
Rennie when he first looks at the

video. Mr. Bellagio in the video was not
comfortable being there. You could just

see his mannerisms. I used the analogy,
cat on a hot tin roof.

When he walked in the room, he was
looking around.

At one point, he's looking at the
camera.

Rennie is well aware of the absurdity of
the situation.

Segundo Segura, one of the world's
biggest criminals, setting up a sting as

though he's the Colombian equivalent of
the FBI.

But it's clear that he had paid them for
a service, and they had not provided

the service.

So Segundo was taking it into his own
hands to historically record what had

occurred previously and then take them
to task for things that hadn't been

and that was...

Clearly the purpose of the recording.
And it was very well done.

But I think that's okay now. I think
everything is going to be fine.

Using a translator, Segura is meeting
with three people. His Colombian

Viviana Correa.

The go -between, the man with a foot in
both North and South America, Chuck

Morgan. And his U .S. attorney,
Malaysia.

The meeting starts.

Tell me what you've done with the money.
Did you get the money?

She asked before, did you get the $1 .5
million, the first payment that they

made? Yes, everybody acknowledges this
is how much we got. This is what we did

with it.

Yes, I got the payments every time that
I was supposed to get them.

It seems all parties agree that the team
of Valencia, Morgan, and Correa

received $1 .5 million on the promise to
bribe U .S. officials and stop

Segura's extradition.

In a handwritten letter to American
Greed, Bellagio says the promise of

was all Bibi Correa's idea, and he was
blindsided.

When I heard bribery being mentioned in
the meeting, I thought, what the heck is

this about?

Rennie doesn't buy it.

If he's sitting and Charles Morgan, Mr.
Morgan says, I paid people in

Washington, D .C. with the money you
gave me. If you're sitting there, you're

hearing that in English. He's sitting
right next to him. Mr. Morgan makes

another comment.

It gets very, very messy, and you know
that.

The lawyer has to stay very, very clean.

Mr. Bellagio says we have it arranged
this way so I can close my ears if I

to, and it protects all of us. It gives
me the ability to close my ears

sometimes if I need to, and it protects
all

of us.

All of that leads to the fact that Mr.
Belasia would not be making those

comments if he didn't, A, know what was
going on, and B, know it was illegal.

But Rennie needs to know if Belasia and
company followed through on their

promise. You know, is this, is there
anything going on corruption -wise, or

it the opposite? Is it they're promising
the world, that's the shtick, that's

what they're using to get the clients,
and then they're just, it's just

essentially a fraud case, right? They're
just lying to them.

Up next, follow the money, and the money
will answer that question.

FBI Special Agent Jason Rennie is trying
to solve a mystery.

Is Jamie Belasia actually a power broker
with crooked judges in his pocket?

Rennie subpoenas Belasia's bank records
and follows the money.

He sees suspicious activity in one of
Belasia's personal bank accounts, an

account that had been dormant.

It didn't have any direct deposits going
to it. I think it had a deposit every

so often, but it had some recurring,
like, withdrawals, like a gym membership

and something else. But it was nothing.

Nothing until he signed on with the
cartel, and then there's a massive

more than $400 ,000.

It was done in cash, and it was done at
a very rapid rate.

The interesting thing was, none of the
money that was deposited was deposited

the state of Texas.

It was deposited multiple states, I
think up to nine states.

Many of the deposits are in New York
City.

It's like somebody was walking down the
street, they deposited some in this ATM.

Walked six blocks, another ATM.

Concurrent with that, there's a walk -in
cash deposit in Florida or Connecticut

or Los Angeles.

So it's very clear that there was an
organization that was just putting money

into this bank account.

Segunda Segura appears to be going to
extraordinary lengths to make sure each

payment to Malaysia is under the $10
,000 federal reporting limit.

Malaysia could have been paid legally.

if he had applied for an OFAC license
like Ernest Gonzalez warned him.

But the dude did not abide.

And there were signs that Jamie Bellagio
was in over his head.

In his letter to American Greed,
Bellagio writes, What a dummy I was.

Once Bellagio received the money, where
did it go?

Agent Rennie finds no evidence that
judges, prosecutors, or DEA agents have

paid off.

The latest promises of campaign
contributions and connections with

judges appear to have been a complete
fabrication.

There was zero information, zero
credibility to any of that.

This sort of shakedown actually... Turns
out to be quite common in Colombia.

There are a lot of dirty lawyers there
who take advantage of these guys because

they're sitting on millions of dollars
and they're desperate.

The VLT cigars may have seen this as the
cost of doing business. If it can get

me out of a jam like it does here in
Colombia, why not let me try this?

It can be risky. In fact, some Colombian
attorneys have paid with their lives.

But Malaysia may be whistling past the
graveyard.

Because he's made a habit of screwing
over people with far fewer resources.

Like Segundo Segura, Anthony Felting is
desperate.

Unlike Segura, he's not sitting on
millions.

He's already given Malaysia about $50
,000 while Malaysia dangles the promise

avoiding jail.

But now, Felting is out of money.

One afternoon, Belasia suggests they go
out to lunch.

After plowing through his enchiladas,
Felsing says Belasia lowers the boom.

I got some bad news for you. I'm like,
what?

He said, well, I'm not going to be able
to get you to deal with Jack, so you

probably just need to go ahead and take
the 12 -year offer.

And I think that I was in shock because
I just remember my whole body just

getting cold and went numb.

because I was like, I'm going back to
prison.

I've just given this guy all this money,
done everything he's asked me to do,

and I'm going back to prison.

I mean, the first thing I think of was
my kids.

Like, what about my kids, you know?

And I'll never forget it. I was just
numb.

I was just sitting there and he just got
up and left and just threw the check at

me and said, why don't you take care of
my bill for lunch?

The last time I saw him until the day I
testified against him in court.

You know, you pick your victims, right?
It's predatory.

These are people that are, you know, if
they do say anything.

It can easily be swept away, but how do
you believe them? They're bad people.

They're not like me.

Sold Mr. Felsing a bill of goods. He
lied and took his money.

He sold Segundo a bill of goods. He lied
to them and took their money. It's the

same thing.

Really believes the only difference is
the number of zeros in Malaysia's

paycheck.

Ultimately, I think it was just greed. I
think it was, I can make a lot of money

in a short period of time for doing
little or no work.

The feds still want to strengthen their
case and catch Malaysia in the act on U

.S. soil.

That video and all that's great, but the
issue for us is that video and those

statements occurred in a foreign
country.

Agent Rennie wants to set up his own
hidden camera.

Up next, Malaysia walks into a trap
right here in the Lone Star State.

I can twist it however I want.

The

undercover

video from Bogota is telling.

But Agent Rennie wants to see if Jamie
Bellagio will commit a crime on U .S.

soil. He's got a plan.

And he's in luck.

We might have something here. We have
somebody that's sitting in our district

right now.

Segunda Segura's brother, Aldemar, is in
a jail near Dallas.

When Segunda was arrested in Bogota,
Aldemar happened to be in Miami.

He was arrested and brought to Texas.

Rennie meets with Aldemar, who agrees to
pretend that he wants to bribe U .S.

judges, too.

He gets on a jail phone and dials the
dude.

He made the call, and if they could have
jumped on a jet, they couldn't get here

quick enough.

Rennie quickly enlists a fellow FBI
agent to go undercover, acting as the

cartel's accountant.

He asks Valasia, seated at the far end
of the table next to his paralegal, and

Chuck Morgan, on the right, what the
cartel will get for $1 .2 million.

Morgan responds that he'll take
Washington officials out for a sundae.

Maybe an extra scoop of ice cream on a
sundae.

Balazs' answer to the what -will -we
-get question is a little more subtle

scoops of ice cream.

I can twist the government's arm a
little bit. It goes like that.

Well,

yeah, to make him to back off would be
nice.

We need him to hear something that is
either going to make him say, I don't

what you're talking about. I'm out of
here.

Or if he hears it and he stays, then we
know, okay.

He has knowledge and intent, right?

Agent Rennie says Belasia clearly breaks
the law when the undercover flashes a

bright neon sign about where her money
comes from.

The money that you're going to receive
is the proceeds of narcotics

Are you okay with that? And Mr. Belasia
says, that's okay.

I have paperwork I have to fill out.
That's on me. No problem.

And we just want to make sure that you
guys are not in trouble again.

Malaysia does not have a license to
represent international

drug dealers, but even if he did, he
still can't accept the money that he

is derived directly from drug dealing.

But when I told the prosecutor, she
said, okay, well, if he didn't get up

run out of the room after that, we've
got what we need.

Meetings are set up in parking lots.

The FBI undercover gives Chuck Morgan
$300 ,000 in a bag.

That's all the feds need. Chuck Morgan
and Jamie Bellagio are arrested.

Though it's been decades, this is the
second time Bellagio's gotten in trouble

involving cocaine.

And this time around, it's a whole
different ballgame.

Up next, take a plea deal or go to
trial?

Trials are very rare because the
government's conviction rate is

high. The dude knows all the angles and
seems to think it's all going to bounce

his way.

Chuck Morgan and Bibiana Correa plead
guilty to federal charges, including

laundering and obstruction of justice.

That leaves federal court reporter Kevin
Krause wondering, will their alleged co

-conspirator Jamie Valeja take a deal
too?

Roughly 97 % of federal cases end in
plea deal.

Trials are very rare, and there's a
reason. And that is because the

conviction rate is incredibly high.

But Valencia believes he's going to beat
the odds.

We like to tell people when you get
pulled over by the police, it's best to

what to do at that point.

He knew how to talk to a jury. He knew
how to, you know, create doubt in their

minds. And he had a huge ego. You can't
make a smarter decision than to call my

office.

At one level, the trial seems to answer.

Who is Jamie Bellagio?

Criminal mastermind?

I can twist the government's law a
little bit.

Or fool.

You'll never get to jail that way.

His defense attorneys in trial described
him, I think, as a hillbilly and

driving a Scooby -Doo van. You do kind
of think, well, maybe he

just didn't know what he was doing and
was moving too fast and not thinking.

Possible?

you put the puzzle pieces together and
it's less possible.

Any white -collar crime case is about
following the money. In addition to the

cash deposits made by many people all
over the country, Malaysia admits on the

stand that he or his employees did at
least four cash pickups in parking lots

near Houston, totaling over $200 ,000.

The prosecutor says Valasia knew this
was drug money, and he wasn't authorized

to represent drug kingpins.

And what's more, the government takes a
dim view of lawyers suggesting American

courts are for sale.

We have a real problem with that.

I wasn't corruptible, the judge wasn't
corruptible, and the agent wasn't

corruptible, and it just wasn't going to
happen. That in that way, man, cheapens

the profession.

Ernest Gonzalez's case was all about
cooperation.

Striking deals, moving up the ladder.

Even the big fish, Segundo Segura, was
cooperating. Until he suddenly went

after hearing the promises of Malaysia.

He obstructed justice.

His greed denied us the opportunity to
advance our investigation. So we weren't

able to stop those shipments of cocaine.
We weren't able to stop those acts of

violence. So who is Malaysia?

A champion of the downtrodden?

If you really knew him and he knew the
heart that he had, it's hard to believe

that what they're saying that he did, he
did knowingly.

Or a cynic who pimps justice and
exploits his clients.

Agent Rennie, who was in the courtroom,
points to one turning point when Anthony

Felsing takes the stand.

And I'm going back to prison.

And this is a rugged guy, you know, and
he was like driven to tears just talking

about it.

And I'll never forget.

I mean, the first thing I think of was
my kids.

And he goes, at that moment, he takes
the check and he tosses it at me and he

goes, and take care of that check while
you're at it.

And he walks out.

And I'm sitting and I kind of turn and
look at the jury.

You can feel the tide turn.

After deliberating for a day and a half,
the jury comes back.

Guilty on five counts in the Seguro
case, including money laundering,

obstruction, and violating the Kingpin
Act.

Malaysia writes to American Greed, I
might have been distracted by the

for huge future fees in other Columbia
cases, but I did not intentionally

the crimes I was found guilty of.

Viviana Correa, who pleads guilty, is
sentenced to seven years in prison.

Chuck Morgan, now suffering from
Alzheimer's, gets six years.

Jamie Bellagio gets just under 16 years
in Big Spring Prison in West Texas.

This is what defense attorneys call the
trial penalty. Had he decided to plead

guilty, he probably would have gotten
less.

But he rolled the dice, and yeah, it's a
significant sentence.

For at least 16 years, fans of campy
lawyer ads will have to wait.

Go with the winning team.

There will be no more YouTube videos.

Schedule a free appointment to come in
and see me. No more driving the RV

Austin. No more runs for Attorney
General.

But maybe Malaysia is fortunate that
Segundo Segura called the cops.

You cannot scam the cartel without them
finding out. And he's probably lucky

that the feds got him before somebody
else got him.