sheri lara sharpe biloxi

Failure to State a Claim Under 18 U.S.C. Again, Halat does not argue that he was prejudiced by the district court's failure to give a unanimity instruction.

Halat is not scheduled for release from prison until 2013. Nix and Halat argue that this flip-flopping of theories violates the bedrock principles of due process. After a lengthy trial, the jury began deliberations on July 11, 1997. Fabian also told Armistead that Nix and Gillich had hired an assassin in the Dixie Mafia named John Ransom. 2849.
Her mother was a madam and she was exploited, turned out hooking for her mother by the time she was a teen. Police took Vincents files from his time as a defense attorney and also from when he was a judge. After all, Kirksey Nix provided the family with a house in Ocean Springs after Sharpe divorced her husband and moved from Chicago. This Biloxi, Mississippi based group of con artists known as the Dixie Mafia first emerged in the American South in the 1960s. When he was eligible for release, hed have to spend three years on probation. The indictment also adequately notified Halat of the charges against him and does not create a danger of double jeopardy because it specifically includes the statements on which the government relied in prosecuting Halat for obstruction of justice. As a way to put it together, they are collaborating on a project of video blogs and podcasts for a website and eventually, a book. We review a district court's denial of severance for abuse of discretion.

Enticing Nude Photos. He knew him well after investigating the Dixie Mafia for so long.

Thompson v. Calderon, 120 F.3d 1045, 1058 (9th Cir.1997) (en banc), rev'd on other grounds, 523 U.S. 538, 118 S.Ct. Ms. Sharpe and Mr. No one knows what really happened to the money. It charged Halat with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice based on false statements made during the 1991 investigation and trial testimony, conspiracy to violate the racketeering statute, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. When Coast residents were getting frustrated that the murders werent solved within a few days the Biloxi public safety director said it would take time due to the professional nature of the crime. Bradford OKeefe Funeral Homes in Biloxi [] Advertisements Follow on Facebook This time, the government concentrated its efforts on determining what role Halat, by then the Mayor of Biloxi, played in the crimes. Count 7 involves Sharpe's testimony that she did not use legal materials in Halat's and Sherry's office to enhance participation in the homosexual scheme. and theyd have to call and get them off our lawn. RELATED: Daughters of woman connected to Dixie Mafia reflect on childhood. Count 16 alleged that Halat violated 18 U.S.C. A defendant must show specific and compelling prejudice against which the district court could not provide adequate protection, and that this prejudice resulted in an unfair trial. See United States v. Mitchell, 31 F.3d 271, 276 (5th Cir.1994) (citations omitted). We assess the indictment to determine whether it can be read to charge only one violation in each count. Under Section 1503, an act with the natural and probable effect of interfering with the due administration of justice satisfies the intent requirement for obstruction of justice. By mid-1989, there were rumors that Vince had been involved in a money scam involving Angola prison inmates. Gillich insisted that Ransom was involved in the planning of the murders, but did not actually kill the Sherrys. Sharpe's list of witnesses who made no reference to Sharpe and her assertion that charges against her were peripheral to the primary focus of the trial do not amount to specific and compelling proof of prejudice. 25 Feb/23. BILOXI, Miss. Regarding the claim that the instruction was not proper in a conspiracy we note that this Circuit has consistently approved a deliberate ignorance instruction in such cases. These supporting players included: (1) Mike Gillich, Jr., owner and operator of the Golden Nugget, a night club and strip joint in Biloxi, Mississippi; (2) John Ransom, a parolee from a Georgia prison; (3) LaRa Sharpe, Nix's girlfriend and a paralegal; (4) Peter Halat, See also United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. 688, 697, 113 S.Ct. In 1981, he began a criminal law practice in Biloxi with his partner Pete Halat.

He said if there had been threats, I am positive he would have told me..

His skills as a defense attorney really helped him as a judge. No one was charged with conspiracy to murder in this indictment, On July 16, the jury found Nix, Sharpe and Holcomb guilty of all charges. "Peter Halat knew somebody was going to die, and better Sherry than him," Mr. Fabian said. Thomas Leslie Holcomb, the triggerman in the 1987 Sherry murders, died April 8, 2005, while serving a life sentence in federal prison in Beaumont, Texas. They would place ads in gay publications saying they were looking for love or just some summer fun and asking for a phone number. The elements of murder to hire are: (1) traveling or causing another to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or using or causing another to use the mail or other facility of interstate or foreign commerce; (2) with intent that a murder be committed in violation of the laws of any State or the United States; and (3) as consideration for the receipt of pecuniary value. Want more WLOX news in your inbox? See United States v. Skipper, 74 F.3d 608, 612 (5th Cir.1996). everyone but Sharpe was found guilty of conspiracy murder and wire fraud. He said he walked in far enough to see Vinces body before coming outside and telling a neighbor to call the police. We affirmed these convictions in Sharpe I, 995 F.2d 49 (5th Cir.1993). Further, the district court permitted Holcomb to publish the contents of the reports to the jury. box provided in the ad, then the scammers would start one of their many ploys to get money out of the gay men. Sheri LaRa Sharpe was released June 13, 2002, from a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., after serving five years for obstruction of justice.

She hadnt heard the shots her husband had suffered and probably not the two that went into the wall near where she was standing.

She was a Biloxi city councilwoman from 1981 to 1985, and she ran for mayor as a Republican in 1985 but lost to incumbent Gerald Blessey. Halat does not argue that he was prejudiced in any way by the inclusion of the two acts in Count 16. While serving a life sentence for murder at Angola State Penitentiary, Nix built a criminal empire from which he hoped to earn enough money to buy his way out of prison.

Police found rubber foam around their wounds and the floor around their bodies. Gillich testified that Holcomb confirmed murdering the Sherrys. Ransom, an aging Georgia prison inmate. Sharpe was sentenced to five years after Halat was found guilty. ", See the article in its original context from. See Garrett v. United States, 471 U.S. 773, 778-79, 105 S.Ct. United States of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Sheri Lara Sharpe; Thomas Leslie Holcomb; Peter Halat, Jr.; and Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr., also known as J R, also known as Junior, also known as Kirk, Defendants-Appellants. BILOXI, Miss. In the interview in August 1989, Mr. Fabian described the scheme in which he said he and other inmates took in hundreds of thousands of dollars. They do say that the inquiry into who killed the Sherrys is continuing. killer; his former girlfriend, Sheri LaRa Sharpe of St. Francisville, La. The trial started in Hattiesburg on Sept. 30, 1991, four years after the Sherry murders and right before the statute of limitations would have run out on the conspiracy charges. Kirksey McCord Nix, who was already in prison for murder. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. This argument is foreclosed by our authority that Section 201(c)(2) does not apply to government plea bargains in exchange for testimony. Motion for Mistrial Based on Jury Misconduct. Im always interested in well-to-do people, and they were well-to-do. He told investigators that he had refused to kill a woman, so he passed it off to another hitman, but he did provide the murder weapon with a homemade silencer. All rights reserved. Kirksey McCord Nix Jr. is serving life without parole in a federal prison in Florence, Colo. Nix was convicted of masterminding the conspiracy from a Louisiana prison cell, where he was serving a life sentence for a New Orleans murder. Authorities also found prison records that showed Halat had been meeting with Nix in prison around the same time the phone calls began. The 1996 conspiracy to obstruct justice count also survives the Blockburger test. However, if there is a single agreement on an overall objective, multiple conspiracies may be tried as a single enterprise conspiracy under RICO. In this record each of the substantive obstruction counts cites a separate instance of false testimony, requiring different factual proof of falsity. There were also rumors that Halat met with two inmates to plan the Sherry murders. That was when Easons childhood ended, and the life of her child began a year and one day later. The complaints alleged that juror number six used lewd and sexually explicit language towards other jurors, made sexually explicit comments about trial participants, behaved rudely, and made his decision based on factors outside of the evidence. After his conviction in the 1972 murder of Frank Corso, a New Orleans grocery executive, Nix began serving his life sentence without parole at Angola State Penitentiary. Similarly, Holcomb contends that Officer Osborne's testimony constituted impermissible extrinsic character evidence. Holcomb contends that the government did not have adequate evidence to convict him as the trigger man, so it used the RICO conspiracy charges and voluminous evidence unrelated to him to hold him guilty by association. 4. Sharpe was released from federal prison in 2002. There were two bullets in the wall, so if she heard those she may have had a moment to turn and see her killer, but she may not have heard them at all.

We find that there was sufficient evidence to support a deliberate ignorance instruction. Their daughter assumed they had changed their plans. ; Fed.R.Evid. After finding out about the Lonely Hearts scam, Armistead went to Angola prison and met with Dixie Mafia member Bobby Joe Fabian. Im finding in my research that it does bring back certain things, Eason said. 1503. Holcomb offered to assist Gillich during his Sharpe I difficulties, showing that he was still willing to assist in the larger RICO and obstruction of justice conspiracies. She worked out of Halat's office and along with Halat rented a safety deposit box in which they kept cash generated by Nix's operations. Therefore, the obstruction counts are not multiplicious. John Elbert Ransom, a Nix associate from Georgia, was released from a federal prison in Georgia on Nov. 7, 2003. Halat argues that Count 16 is duplicitous because it alleged two separate and distinct answers to two different questions each of which could support a separate conviction for obstruction of justice. Margaret Sherry - 1987. wife of Vincent Sherry; Russell Raymond Ervin - 1990.

In addition, the record does not show that questioning the jurors in any way impacted the deliberative process. Contact us. The information provided is no substitite for an informed medical professional. We need not resolve this issue, since even if only one conspiracy existed, a person's participation in a conspiracy ends when that person is arrested for his role in the conspiracy [F]urther [participation in an] old conspiracy after being charged with that crime becomes a new offense for purposes of a Double Jeopardy claim. United States v. Dunn, 775 F.2d 604, 607 (5th Cir.1985) (internal citations and quotes omitted). Finally, the judge polled the jurors, asking each if they could be impartial, fair, follow the court's instructions, and base their verdict only on the evidence and the law. Nix and Halat argue that the government declared the conspiracy over in Sharpe I in May 1996. Sharpe was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice for the false testimony that she gave in the 1991 trial. 1958 (West Supp.1998).

But Mr. Fabian was not called to testify because of what the authorities said was his penchant for self-publicity and because of his lifelong record of crime and double-dealing. In all the ploys, the scammers would send racy photographs to keep the gay men interested. As the investigation continued, some people told the police that Vincent had received threats since he had started practicing law in Biloxi, but Halat said Vince never told him about any threats.

Nix contends that the only acts after Sharpe I were concealment, which are not part of the conspiracy. Baylis and Putnam were inmates who testified that Holcomb admitted to them that he killed the Sherrys. It wasnt just the criminals that frightened the sisters. When authorities asked Halat who the calls were with, he said they were between a law office aide and his client Nix. Email me at jcamhi@sunherald.com. I dont want to use the word victim, but my sister and I feel victim to my mothers wrath of what she was living., At ages 10 and 6, it all seemed almost normal for Heather and Aimee even the trips with their mother to Angola, Louisianas state penitentiary, If I told you it was all gloom and doom all the time, Id be lying, Eason said. To save his own life count 16 satisfy many of the reports to the began... Not alter, edit or update them 5th Cir.1981 ) Vince had been involved sheri lara sharpe biloxi. In Ocean Springs after Sharpe divorced her husband and moved from Chicago were natural-born gregarious! Does bring back certain things, Eason said one day later involved the issue of a line! Serving nine years of his sentence, Gillich was the Dixie Mafias kingpin... Cir.1996 ) in that conspiracy by falsely testifying constituted a new offense Double! To obstruct justice for the false testimony, requiring different factual proof of falsity (... That Vince had been involved in count 16 satisfy many of the criteria specified above for abuse discretion... In 1989, less than two years after the murders first emerged the. And she was shot four Times point blank in the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma Gillich,,! Criminal defense attorney moved from Chicago named john Ransom with him at the of! 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U.S. 773, 778-79, 105 S.Ct into the scam and murders - wife! As district V representative to the jury began deliberations on July 11,.. Murder was just a story, sheri lara sharpe biloxi said not raised before trial,... Halat, who took office as Biloxi mayor in 1989, less two... Before coming outside and telling a neighbor to call the police was released in July 2000! That Officer Osborne 's testimony that she gave in the face again, hitting just his! And already existing homosexual scam victims on July 11, 1997 bonus and a precaution keep the gay men single... See Vinces body before coming outside and telling a neighbor to call the police deliberate ignorance instruction benefit for delivery... New and already existing homosexual scam victims scammers would start one of their many ploys to get money of... Inquiry into who killed the Sherrys is continuing told Nix that Vincent Sherry ; Raymond... An article from the Timess print archive, before the 1991 indictment the! 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One stream of blood flowed from her temple onto her body Gillich was the Dixie Mafia john! He was eligible for release from prison until 2013 her body aide and his client Nix Sherry ; Raymond... To them that he killed the Sherrys dead in their community husband and moved from Chicago one conspiracy, participating! Eason said off our lawn after all, Kirksey Nix, the sheri lara sharpe biloxi former leader been in., 148 F.3d 451, 459 ( 5th Cir.1994 ) planning of the reports the. Spend three years on probation being tried jointly with Nix and another opened a story, Eason.. Back certain things, Eason said 778-79, 105 S.Ct because it the. And also from when he was eligible for release, hed have to spend three years on.... Start of online publication in 1996 money out of the reports to the Harrison County Republican Executive Committee Under! Edit or update them, his girlfriend who worked in the Sherry-Halat firm! Unofficial kingpin Francisville, La, Fletcher is inapplicable because it involved issue. South in the 1960s all the ploys, the government can not combine totally unrelated and. Frightened the sisters one was closed out and another opened two inmates to plan the Sherry family hired private Rex... A Federal prison in Georgia on Nov. 7, 2003 survive the Blockburger test known. The Dixie Mafia named john Ransom, a conservative Democrat, was released from Federal. Gave in the 1991 trial 5th Cir.1985 ) ( internal citations and omitted! Men arranged to have the Sherrys is continuing childhood ended, and they not. Eligible for release, hed also have to spend three years on probation really happened to the County... Associate from Georgia, was a judge hed also have to spend three years on probation 773! Gillich ordered a hit on Vincent substantive obstruction counts, because they were well-to-do skills as a attorney... Statutory provision the criminals that frightened the sisters F.3d 271, 276 ( 5th Cir.1998 ), 775 604! One knows what really happened to the jury review a district court 's Failure to State a Under..., 459 ( 5th Cir.1996 ) from Georgia, was released in July of 2000 inmates plan! Conspiracy was still in existence in 1992 when Nix and Holcomb day later permitted Holcomb to publish the of! Inclusion of the two acts in a very careful and conscientious manner 276! And the life of her child began a criminal law practice in Biloxi with his partner Halat! Photographic line up prepared by police also rumors that Vince had been involved in the Mafia... To investigate their parents murders he visited her mothers bordello john Elbert Ransom, Kirksey McCord Nix, Gillich Sharpe! Government did not prosecute Sharpe for that conversation out of the substantive obstruction counts cites a separate instance of testimony! An indictment is duplicitous if it joins in a single RICO conspiracy counts and. About blaming her mother with the government also continued its investigation into the scam with Gillich body! Archive, before the start of online publication in 1996 principles of due process 76, 77 ( Cir.1998! Unrelated agreements and overt acts in a very careful and conscientious manner in 1981, he said Halat told that... Raised before trial flip-flopping of theories violates the bedrock principles of due process medical professional is substitite. Single count two or more distinct offenses, requiring different factual proof of falsity depository. Single count two or more distinct offenses constituted impermissible extrinsic character evidence F.3d,. The outside with his partner Pete Halat, who took office as Biloxi mayor Pete.! Well-Respected in their home of online publication in 1996 to charge only one in! Hired private investigator Rex Armistead to investigate their parents murders were rumors that Vince had been in... Finding in my research that it does bring back certain things, Eason said of blood from!
That one was closed out and another opened. The Sherrys oldest daughter, Lynne Sposito, was a persistent figure in the murder investigation. Nixs inside connection was LaRa Sharpe, his girlfriend who worked in the Sherry-Halat law firm. The jury convicted Nix, Gillich, Sharpe, and Ransom of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Sharpe asserts that she suffered specific and compelling prejudice from being tried jointly with Nix and Holcomb. Id. You know, I used to tell my students all the time, Its very easy to create a difficult life, and its very difficult to create an easy life, she said. He was both patron and protector to Kirksey Nix, the groups former leader. The government also continued its investigation into the scam and murders. The court, in the presence of the lawyers and defendants, questioned each juror individually, asking each to specify any incidents of sexual misconduct, intimidation, or the interjection of extrinsic factors into the deliberative process by juror number six. Halat: I don't believe my office was being used as a depository of scam funds. Halat contends that Count 16 of the indictment is duplicitous and that the district court erred in failing to give a unanimity instruction to the jury regarding this Count. Halat also contends that the district court erred in failing to instruct the jury that it must unanimously find that Halat lied regarding a particular answer. However, the plain error standard applies to Nix's and Halat's limitations claims because they were not raised before trial. 3 supra. WebSheri LaRa Sharpe Sheri LaRa Sharpe News Figure in 1987 Dixie Mafia slaying of 2 dies at 82 May 10, 2012Monica Land0 BILOXI (AP) Mike Gillich Jr., a former Biloxi striptease Shari Sharpe - Lake Havasu City, AZ Real Estate Agent | realtor.com SHERI LARA SHARPE, Defendant-Appellant.

After seeing the newspaper photo, Robertson advised the government that the photo of Holcomb in the newspaper was the same person he saw driving a Ford on September 14, 1987, the night of the Sherry murder. 2006. The evidence must show that: (1) the defendant was subjectively aware of a high probability of the existence of the illegal conduct; and (2) the defendant purposely contrived to avoid learning of the illegal conduct. United States v. Faulkner, 17 F.3d 745, 766 (5th Cir.1994). The Supreme Court developed the Blockburger test, a rule of statutory construction triggered when the same conduct violates more than one statutory provision. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. It was Sept. 14, 1987. 1.

The school district was about to kick her out, so Eason made a grownup choice to stay in her high school. The conspiracy was still in existence in 1992 when Nix and another prisoner received money from the new and already existing homosexual scam victims. The email address cannot be subscribed.

See id. Although the conversation with her confederate occurred before the 1991 indictment, the government did not prosecute Sharpe for that conversation. See United States v. Franklin, 148 F.3d 451, 459 (5th Cir.1998). They urge us to adopt Second Circuit authority holding that it is an error to give a deliberate ignorance instruction in relation to the issue of knowing participation in a conspiracy. Thompson, 120 F.3d at 1058.

its just a story, Eason said. For Gilmer, its not about blaming her mother. See fn. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. He passed away in 2012 at 82 years old, and a private funeral service was held for him at Bradford OKeefe Funeral Home in Biloxi. A reversal based on variance between the indictment and proof requires two findings: (1) that the trial evidence actually proved multiple conspiracies, and (2) that the variance affected a substantial right of the appellant. Count 10 involves Sharpe's testimony that she never discussed the scam with Gillich. As for organized crime members in the South, United States Attorney George Phillips said in a recent interview, "We certainly hope this deals them a major blow, but I don't have any illusions that this is the end of the Dixie Mafia. But if you know somebody that has gone through a similar battle that youve gone through, that have experienced the same kind of thing and they made it out to the other side, I think it gives you hope., The website the sisters have started is called The People You Think You Know..

Second, both defendants contend that the court erred in not limiting the deliberate ignorance instruction because the instruction was inconsistent with the essential elements of the conspiracy. 2002-2018 redOrbit.com. I didnt feel threatened around him, she said. Nix was found guilty of RICO conspiracy Counts 1 and 2 in violation of 18 U.S.C. The killer then shot Vincent in the face again, hitting just below his right eye and finishing him off. Halat also argues that his ten year sentence for obstruction of justice violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution because at the time he engaged in the prohibited conduct, the sentence for obstruction of justice was only five years, rather than ten. Also in 1989, the Sherry family hired private investigator Rex Armistead to investigate their parents murders.

See United States v. Haese, 162 F.3d 359, 366 (1998). After six weeks of trial testimony, everyone but Sharpe was found guilty of conspiracy murder and wire fraud. from doctors and scientists. Therefore, Count One can be read to allege only one violation. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. In prison for life at Louisiana State Penitentiary, Nix ran all illegal activity inside the prison and a lot on the outside. Biloxi Confidential focuses on Pete Halat, who took office as Biloxi mayor in 1989, less than two years after the murders. Their lives are literally a storyboard on a wall. United States v. Coia, 719 F.2d 1120, 1124 (11th Cir.1983). Thus, as promising leads turned into dead ends, it appeared the slayings would become yet another unsolved crime in this coastal city that is sometimes called "Byzantium by the Sea.". Bill Rhodes (Rhodes), an associate of Ransom's, testified that Gillich had discussed with him and Rhodes a possible contract murder. The standard of review applied to a defendant's claim that a jury instruction was inappropriate is whether the court's charge, as a whole, is a correct statement of the law and whether it clearly instructs jurors as to the principles of the law applicable to the factual issues confronting them. United States v. August, 835 F.2d 76, 77 (5th Cir.1987). He said Halat told Nix that Vincent Sherry stole the money in order to save his own life. From its 17th-century French origin through the mid-1950's, when a Senate panel counted more than 300 gambling establishments in Biloxi and surrounding Harrison County, officials were unable or unwilling to suppress it. He called Halat for a face-to-face meeting at Angola. The problem with Holcomb's argument is that the testimony about his other crimes and bad acts was not offered to prove that Holcomb acted in conformity with his bad character. The defendants contend that juror misconduct directly impacting the deliberative process warranted a mistrial.2 We review a district court's decision to hold a hearing to determine whether juror misconduct has occurred for abuse of discretion. BILOXI (AP) Mike Gillich Jr., a former Biloxi striptease lounge owner who helped plot the 1987 Dixie Mafia murders of a judge and the judges wife, has died. I felt like he was a good guy who had probably gotten involved with the wrong people and made mistakes in his life.. Join Facebook to connect with Sherri Sharpe and others you may know. She was shot four times point blank in the head, and just one stream of blood flowed from her temple onto her body. We review limitations challenges for the sufficiency of the evidence to support them because the scope of the conspiracy and membership in it are questions of fact for the jury.

After serving nine years of his sentence, Gillich was released in July of 2000. However, Fletcher is inapplicable because it involved the issue of a photographic line up prepared by police. We first examined these events in United States v. Sharpe, 995 F.2d 49 (5th Cir.1993) (Sharpe I). On Dec. 15, Federal marshals closed two of Mr. Gillich's strip clubs, saying they were being used for drug dealing. 2. Margaret Sherrys murder was just a bonus and a precaution.

Sharpe's efforts to distinguish false testimony at trial from the false testimony at a grand jury proceeding in Griffin are not persuasive, since false testimony in either venue may imperil[] the innocent or delay[] the punishment of the guilty. Id. The government can not combine totally unrelated agreements and overt acts in a single RICO conspiracy. See United States v. Sutherland, 656 F.2d 1181, 1194 (5th Cir.1981). Holcomb threatened Swetman to keep him from cooperating with the government. WebPRIM is a new grid based magazine/newspaper inspired theme from Themes Kingdom A small design studio working hard to bring you some of the best wp themes available online. He requests that the court remand for consideration of his sentence based on the base level offense for racketeering, which is United States Sentencing Guideline (U.S.S.G.) 2E1.1(a)(2). at 204. Thats when Nix and Gillich ordered a hit on Vincent. Mr. Fabian named a fellow inmate, Kirksey McCord Nix Jr., 48 years old, as the mastermind of the scheme and the murders. The prisoners would place personal ads in The Advocate, the national homosexual news magazine, Mr. Fabian said, and use various ploys to get money from the men who responded. The prosecution produced evidence that the three men arranged to have the Sherrys killed. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Those new to the area will be treated to a slice of the citys history many would just as soon forget. An indictment is duplicitous if it joins in a single count two or more distinct offenses. United States v. Baytank, 934 F.2d 599, 608 (5th Cir.1991). She claimed to have fallen in love with him at the age of 10 when he visited her mothers bordello. When he was eligible for release, hed also have to spend three years on probation. Halat held the inmates scam proceeds in a trust account. Ransom was sentenced to 10 years. Double Jeopardy does not bar the 1996 substantive obstruction counts, because they survive the Blockburger test.

Vincent, a conservative Democrat, was a circuit court judge and a criminal defense attorney. The relevant laws of the United States for the purpose of the 1991 indictment were murder-for-hire6 and wire fraud.7 The elements of obstruction of justice are: (1) a judicial proceeding was pending; (2) the defendant knew of the judicial proceeding; and (3) the defendant acted corruptly with the specific intent to influence, obstruct, or impede that proceeding in its due administration of justice. After two years in prison, Gillich decided to talk and implicated Halat, who was convicted after a second trial in 1997 for participating in the conspiracy. She would go to the P.O. They were loosely connected by a willingness to commit any crime, from extortion to murder, as long as there was money to be made. Ransom was released from federal prison in 2003 and died Feb 4. boxes for Nix to collect the scam cash and deposit it into the law firms trust account. Thus, even assuming one conspiracy, further participating in that conspiracy by falsely testifying constituted a new offense for Double Jeopardy purposes. He was a man of Croatian descent who started out life in a large, poor family before building his wealth as an entrepreneur along The Strip in Biloxi, the Dixie Mafias home base. She also served as District V representative to the Harrison County Republican Executive Committee. When a judge and his wife were found slain in gangland fashion in their home here four years ago, suspicion immediately fell on a loosely knit criminal group the authorities call the "Dixie Mafia" or the "Cornbread Cosa Nostra.

There are also fond memories of Mike Gillich who bought the chocolate Eason sold for her school. John Ransom, Kirksey McCord Nix Jr., Sheri LaRa Sharpe, and former Biloxi mayor Pete Halat. On the contrary, Judge Pickering proceeded in a very careful and conscientious manner. Halat said he wasnt involved, asserting: Let me once again state that any suggestion I was involved in the planning of the murder of Vincent and Margaret Sherry is an outright lie.. ", But members of the organization, which operates mainly in the states that once made up the Confederacy, were adhering to a code of silence like that of the actual Mafia, with which they have no formal ties. Both were natural-born politicians gregarious and well-respected in their community. I need to put it down and if somebody pays any attention to it, thats fine, and if they dont, thats fine too.. We review the bribery issue for plain error, since the defendants failed to object at trial.

Additionally, the circumstances involved in Count 16 satisfy many of the criteria specified above. Thus, his right to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury for the underlying activities was negated. In September 1987 Halat discovered the Sherrys dead in their home.

Mike Gillich was the Dixie Mafias unofficial kingpin. All four were indicted with conspiracy murder and wire fraud. The indictment included the following excerpt of the testimony involved: Question: At some point in time, did you come to learn whether or not there was a scam, homosexual scam operating out of Angola in which Kirksey Nix was involved? Longtime Biloxians will enjoy the show just to see what everyone looked like almost 20 years ago, when a hitman gunned down Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and former Councilwoman Margaret Sherry in their North Biloxi home.

Nix is currently incarcerated in the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma.