Don Sanchez, the Mafia and the Neighborhood Democrats

Tonight, September 28, 2001, all doubts were erased in my mind that Don Tony Sanchez is in fact knee deep in the Mafia.

The Neighborhood Democrats, a League City Democratic Club, run by Carl and Deborah Silverman, were having a function tonight featuring Don Sanchez as speaker.  The event was to take place at the Southshore Harbor Resort and Hotel in League City.  Don Sanchez has been very secretive every since he was recruited by Ben Barnes and John Sharp to run for governor last year.  Don Sanchez has carefully avoided any face to face debates with either WorldPeace or Marty Akins before he dropped out of the governor's race last week.

I was determined to get a face to face conversation with Don Sanchez just so people could see that he was nothing.  Just someone who was being very closely handled so that the public would not find out what a shallow person and corrupt candidate that he is.  His co-conspirators know that if he is ever placed head-to-head with me, his campaign will be over.

On Monday, September 24, 2001, I began to run my telephone dialers to cover an area within a 45 mile radius of the Southshore Harbor Resort and I began calling 40,000 people per day with the dialer message following this article.

On Thursday, this message began to call into Carl Silverman's neighborhood and he called me very agitated.  He demanded that I quit sending out the message.  I told him that this was politics and it was nothing personal.  He became more agitated when I told him that Don Sanchez would probably not show at his function because he had not shown at the last six Democratic events that I have attended in the last three weeks;  all of which were significant.  Carl was so sure that Don Sanchez was going to show that he wanted to bet me $100 on it.  I refused the bet because I thought it was juvenile.

Then Carl said I was all talk.  I asked him what he meant but he shut up as if he was about to say more than he should have.  Carl then threatened me if I did not stop the messages.  I told him that I had no intention of stopping them.

Tonight my campaign manager, Dan Kerr and Kurtyce Cole who is running for councilman District B in Houston, arrived at the Southshore Harbor Resort and bought tickets to the function; $30 each.  However, someone then came up to the lady who sold the tickets and told her to give Mr. Kerr and Mr. Cole their money back which she did.  They were then escorted out of the hotel.

Right after that, my wife and I arrived at the Resort.  Dan and Kurtyce walked over to my car and told me what had happened.  I told them that we were going in and I gathered my things and we headed toward the entrance.  At the entrance to the Resort, I was met by several Resort officials who told me that I would not be allowed to enter.  One said that he had called the police.  Then two fat unkempt goons came out of the Resort and got in my face and Mr. Cole's face as if to be intimidating.  They told me that they would not allow us to enter.  The League City Police were called and three units arrived.  I was told that I would have to leave the property of the Resort which we did after getting the names of the officers and an incident number.

Don Sanchez has a history of associating with people who are connected to the Mafia in one way or another.  (See the articles below).  Now it is obvious that his corruption extends from  Ben Barnes all the way down to Democratic clubs like the Neighborhood Democrats. 

Don Sanchez must be stopped from further impregnating the Democratic Party with his corruption.  Don Sanchez and his co-conspirators and henchmen and the Judases that he has bought off must all be purged from the Democratic Party in order to prevent the Mafia from infiltrating Texas politics. 

It never made any sense that Ben Barnes and John Sharp would recruit a corrupt Republican who had indirect connections with the Mafia to run for governor.  The only thing that makes sense is that the state of Texas is in danger of being plundered by Don Sanchez and his allies.

Think about the Mafia like "death threat" letter alleged to be from Mr. Cuellar to Don Sanchez,  the labeling of Mr. Cuellar a homosexual, Don Sanchez's connection to the Mafia Drug Lords Defender Tony Canales, ex-U S Attorney in Houston,  the laundering of $25 million of Mexican drug money through Don Sanchez's Tesoro S & L, and about Morris Jaffe's connection with the New Orleans mob (Don Sanchez worked for many years for Morris Jaffe), and now the need to keep John WorldPeace away from Don Sanchez at all costs.  What is it going to take for the rank and file members of the Democratic Party in this state to purge themselves of Don Sanchez?  Who needs to worry about terrorist when the Mafia is about to extend its corruption into all aspects of the affairs of Texas?

Tony Sanchez must go and all those who are a part of his conspiracy right down to little soldiers like Carl Silverman and the members of  the Neighborhood Democrats.

John WorldPeace
The next governor of Texas

September 28, 2001

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The WorldPeace September 24, 2001, dialer message

Sanchez at League City

Tony Sanchez will face John WorldPeace, the next governor of Texas, in League City this Friday, September 28, 2001 from 6 to 10pm, at South Shore Harbor Resort Hotel where Don Sanchez is scheduled to speak.

The 600 million Dollar Tony is going to be forced to respond to the following questions: 1) Where is the death threat letter the Secretary of State Cuellar sent you? 2) Why did your Drug Lord defending Laredo attorney Tony Canales send two goons to label Mr. Cuellar a homosexual? 3) Tell us about working with the Pariah Ben Barnes in the early sixties. 4) And what about your relationship with the late Morris Jaffe who was connected with the New Orleans Mafia, who you worked for after Ben Barnes was run out of Texas politics. 5) What about that $25 million in drug money you laundered through your Tesoro S&L before you bankrupted it? 6) What about your Republican background in giving George Bush $300,000 to help him get elected, and 7) Do you think you can buy the governor’s race with your mother’s 2 billion dollars?

The choice for governor is clear, Tony the corrupt Republican turncoat or John WorldPeace the only real Democrat in the governor’s race. Vote for WorldPeace or vote for the corrupt Republican Sanchez, the absolute worst that Texas has to offer and a monumental embarrassment to the Democratic Party.

Go to johnworldpeace.com on the Internet for more details.

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The Evidence against Don Tony Sanchez

Tony Sanchez was an intern for Ben (the Pariah) Barnes when he was lt.governor. Sanchez then by recommendation from Barnes when to work for Morris Jaffe who was tied to the New Orleans Mafia and who was responsible for the downfall of Jim Wright. Don Sanchez Tesoro S & L laundered $25 million in Mexican drug money. Don Sanchez was a room mate of Tony Canales (Ex U S Attorney and present Drug Lord Defender) at law school. And both Tonys cooked up a "death threat" letter from secretary of State Henry Cuellar along with labeling him a homosexual. Don Sanchez will not release the letter. And Don Sanchez was a $300 thousand contributor to George Bush; in other words Don Sanchez is a Republican.

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Morris and Doug Jaffe, father-and-son businessmen from San Antonio, Morris is an associate of Marvin Haass and Carlos Marcello, the New Orleans Mafia boss. Doug borrowed from Ed McBirney's Sunbelt Savings and provided jet airplane noise-limitation equipment for Farhad Azima and others.

The Mafia, CIA and George Bush, Pete Brewton (New York: S.P.I. Books, 1992)

______________________ Henry Cisneros: Clinton once called the former HUD secretary "a man of integrity and character," though he proved far from it in several instances . . . lied to the FBI about payments to three-year lover Linda Medlar . . . got caught up in dirty business dealings with oil entrepreneur Morris Jaffe.

The Princeton Spectator, April 16, 1997

______________________ So far only one Texas name has surfaced as a money player. According to FBI records, San Antonio financier and political benefactor Morris Jaffe helped dump $85,000 into the hush-money account, sources say. Jaffe claims to have provided about $9,000 to Jones after the request of San Antonio district Councilman Frank Wing. No names have yet surfaced from the president's circle, but there are hints of conspiracy charges to come.

Insight on the News; Jan 12, 1998;News World Communications, Inc. ______________________ Mattox received $50,000 each from the Teamsters and Morris Jaffe of San Antonio. Jaffe , a longtime Democratic activist, was a key figure in the downfall of U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright of Fort Worth. Jaffe brought Wright into an oil deal that netted the speaker $325,000 and then refused to discuss the deal with congressional ethics investigators.

April 30, 1990; Houston Chronicle

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AUSTIN – Tony Sanchez will be called upon to explain how $25 million in drug money was laundered through his now defunct savings and loan without his knowledge 17 years ago if he runs for governor, two top political rivals said Monday...Mr. Sanchez was chairman of the board of the thrift, which he and his father founded. It failed in 1988 because of unrelated financial problems.

08/07/2001; by George Kuempel / The Dallas Morning News

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AUSTIN -- A key ally of Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez this week tried to get Marty Akins to drop out of the Democratic gubernatorial race in advance of Sanchez's formal announcement as a candidate next Tuesday.

Former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, who once employed Sanchez as a legislative aide, tried to broker a deal with Akins on Monday in which Akins would drop out of the governor's race in exchange for the backing of Democratic leadership in a race for Texas land commissioner, according to several sources familiar with the exchange...Barnes' role in the deal brokering could give Perry's campaign additional fodder for a potential general election contest with Sanchez...In speeches around the state last year, Barnes promoted tax hikes and the possible creation of a state income tax. Perry aides privately have said they will use those opinions and Barnes' association with Sanchez to challenge Sanchez on state fiscal policy.

...Democratic operatives said Barnes assured Akins that if he got into the land commissioner race there would be no Democratic opponent and that Sanchez and Democratic leaders would support his campaign. Akins told Barnes he would consider the offer. Barnes then called Bernsen and urged him to stay out of the race, operatives said. Bernsen in turn called Akins to tell him he already had lined up support from some of the same Democratic leaders that Barnes had told Akins he could bring on board his campaign.

Aug. 28, 2001; By R.G. RATCLIFFE ; Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

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Juan Garcia Abrego, described as the leader of a powerful drug ring based in Mexico, was convicted on October 16 on drug trafficking charges (Deborah Tedford and Jo Ann Zuniga, "Cocaine kingpin is guilty," Houston Chronicle, October 17, 1996, p. 1A; Sue Anne Pressley, "Accused Leader of Mexico-U.S. Drug Ring Convicted," Washington Post, October 17, 1996, p. A4; "U.S. Jury Convicts Mexican on Drug Charges," New York Times, October 17, 1996, p. A3; Bruce Nichols, "U.S. jury finds Abrego guilty of drug charges," Dallas Morning News, October 17, 1996, p. 1A).

After a four-week trial and twelve hours of deliberation, a jury in U.S. District Court in Houston convicted Garcia Abrego on all 22 counts of money laundering, drug possession and drug trafficking. Prosecutors said Garcia Abrego lead the "Gulf cartel" of drug traffickers, which smuggled more than 15 tons of cocaine and 46,000 pounds of marijuana from Mexico into the United States, and laundered about $10.5 million. Garcia Abrego, 52, faces up to life in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 1997.

Mike Ramsey, Garcia Abrego's lawyer...Another defense attorney, Tony Canales (a former U.S. Attorney), tried to exclude a confession made by Garcia Abrego, (Bruce Nichols, "Drug suspect testifies he doesn't recall waiving his rights," Dallas Morning News, September 10, 1996, p. 13A).

IN THE COURTS; November 1996

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Mr. Sanchez said he was not advised of the rush of withdrawals, which were allowed on the advice of Tesoro's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Tony Canales, a law school classmate of Mr. Sanchez.

08/05/2001; By George Kuempel and Pete Slover / The Dallas Morning News

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AUSTIN (AP) -...Cuellar told the Houston Chronicle that while his nomination for secretary of state was pending approval from the Texas Senate, he was the target of a campaign to damage his reputation.

Two private investigators told several of Cuellar's friends and at least two state senators they suspected Cuellar wrote an anonymous, threatening letter to prospective Democratic gubernatorial candidate A.R. "Tony" Sanchez Jr., a Laredo multimillionaire. The private investigators worked for a lawyer employed by Sanchez, the Chronicle reported. Three Laredo residents also said the investigators said Cuellar was homosexual, which the former Laredo legislator denies. Cuellar also denies writing the letter.

...Sanchez spokesman Kelly Fero confirmed his boss received a threatening letter and turned it over to attorney Jose A. "Tony" Canales, the former U.S. attorney in Houston.

Fero said Sanchez does not know how Canales conducted the investigation...Both the Hildreths are former FBI agents. Claude Hildreth told the Chronicle he has known Canales since his government days but declined to discuss any recent employment for the lawyer.

"You can call Tony Canales and get any comment," Hildreth said. Canales did not immediately return a telephone message left Wednesday by The Associated Press.

March 29, 2001; The Associated Press

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Barnes suffered some setbacks during his four years as lieutenant governor—a divorce, questions about his personal finances, and a unanimous rejection by the House of a plan he supported to extend the sales tax to food—but he drove the agenda in the Legislature and remained a heavy favorite to move up to the office of his choosing in 1972, which turned out to be governor rather than senator. But then the Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Houston banker and real estate developer Frank Sharp, alleging that Sharp had manipulated the price of his bank's stock. The stock happened to be owned by some prominent Texas political figures, including Governor Preston Smith, and at Smith's request, the Legislature had passed two bills that would have eased Sharp's problems with bank regulators. (Ironically, Smith had vetoed the bills when other bankers protested.) Barnes owned no stock and had no dealings with Sharp that anyone could find. The entire legislative session of 1971 went by without a suggestion that he was involved. But that summer, Sharp was seeking a plea bargain to avoid a trial and prison time, and he told federal investigators that his political operative had told him, "Ben is smarter than those other politicians—he only takes cash." The operative denied having made the comment, and to this day there has never been any evidence to link Barnes to the Sharpstown scandal. But his meteoric career worked against him; who knew what such an ambitious young man might have done?

As 1972 began, he had a big lead over his most serious opponent in the gubernatorial primary, Uvalde rancher Dolph Briscoe. But as the vote drew near, House Speaker Gus Mutscher was convicted of conspiracy to accept a bribe in the form of bank stock. And lieutenant governor candidate Bill Hobby had billboards that read "Bill Hobby will make a good lieutenant governor . . . honestly." Ouch. "We could see the polls dropping in the final weeks," Barnes told me. "I went from over fifty percent to the forties, to the thirties." In the end, he didn't even get twenty.

Texas Monthly September 2001; by Paul Burka

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AUSTIN --But he still has a lot to prove, beginning with his party loyalty. Sanchez joined the Young Democrats in 1968 and during that same era worked as an aide to Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes.

But, more recently, Sanchez has been better known as a major backer of the country's most prominent Republican. Personally or through his businesses, he gave more than $350,000 to the National Republican Party and to Bush's successful races for governor and president.

Sanchez' business dealings also invite scrutiny. He once owned a savings and loan, for example, that was used for laundering almost $13 million by Mexican drug dealers.

Sanchez also has to demonstrate that he can run a competent campaign. Without even announcing for governor yet, he already has committed a major political blunder by allowing his lawyer to sic private investigators on Secretary of State Henry Cuellar, a Democratic appointee of Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

...Sanchez still has time to turn things around, but he already is the butt of the first joke of the 2002 campaign season. "What's Spanish for Clayton Williams?" some amused observers have begun to ask.

The punch line? "Tony Sanchez."

April 20, 2001; By CLAY ROBISON; Houston Chronicle

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AUSTIN -Exhibit No. 1 is all the salivating that some party leaders are doing over another Democratic gubernatorial wannabe, wealthy Laredo businessman Tony Sanchez Jr., whose main claim to political fame so far has been helping to elect Republican George W. Bush to the White House.

Not too many years ago, Sanchez and Akins would have been laughed out of a Democratic race for dogcatcher. Now, they demonstrate how far Texas' once-dominant party has fallen.

...Sanchez has some Democratic credentials. He was a member of the Young Democrats in the 1960s and during that era also worked as an aide to Democratic Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes.

More recently, however, he - either personally or through his businesses - contributed more than $300,000 to Bush's successful campaigns for governor and president. During the presidential campaign, Sanchez was a member in very good standing of Bush's "Pioneers," which is what the Republican nominee called his elite group of major fund-raisers.

Sanchez 's anticipated gubernatorial race - he hasn't formally announced yet - is largely the brainchild of former state Comptroller John Sharp, who is once again seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

Sanchez is attractive to Sharp and party leaders because he is wealthy enough to largely fund his own campaign, and as a Hispanic would presumably attract a large bloc of Hispanic voters to the Democratic ticket.

So desperate are Democratic leaders for a statewide victory - they haven't had one since 1994 - they have suddenly become very forgiving, if only selectively.

...In an event, though, Akins and Sanchez may be enough to make many Democratic voters yell, "Help!"

Houston Chronicle; by CLAY ROBISON

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LAREDO —— Last October, a handful of prominent landowners opened the first privately built toll road in Texas. Cutting across the land of some of Laredo's first families, people with names such as Benavides, Puig, Walker and Mann, the $90 million Camino Colombia Toll Road was built to capitalize on the NAFTA-related boom in truck traffic that routinely snarls movement in this border city.

Developers anticipated that 775 tractor-trailers would use the new highway daily, and that the project could break even by collecting $4.4 million in toll revenues in the first year.

But as the road's anniversary approaches, the highway has realized only 13 percent of the forecasted commercial traffic and is borrowing money to cover operating costs and debt service.

Disputes about land use, meanwhile, have fractured relationships among neighbors and family members who donated property to the project.

Chamberlain's is one of three lawsuits brought by current and former landholders in the project who say Mann, Camino Colombia Inc. and its president, Carlos Y. Benavides III, pressured them into donating their land and then reneged on promises to provide secure passages to the toll road.

Mann referred questions to his Alice attorney, who did not return phone calls.

...Chamberlain, however, fears Camino Colombia's fiscal struggles could result in her family members losing their land. "The cards were never really laid out on the table. We were never told what would happen if the road is a failure," she said. The 22-mile, four-lane road connects the 10-year-old Colombia Solidarity Bridge to a point 23 miles north of downtown Laredo on Interstate 35. ...Prieto remained skeptical, fearing the shareholding families are orchestrating a "fancy land grab." John Chamberlain, Nancy's husband, also is worried about what the ultimate outcome may be. "This is splitting up my wife's family. It's not a game," Chamberlain said. "We wouldn't (be suing) if we didn't believe there was something bigger going on."

By Bonnie Pfister; Express-News Border Bureau; 08/23/2001