Billie Sol Estes

Billie Sol Estes
Born (1925-01-10)January 10, 1925
near Clyde, Texas, U.S.
Died May 14, 2013(2013-05-14) (aged 88)
Granbury, Texas, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation Businessman
Known for
Criminal charge
  • Swindling
  • Fraud
  • Interstate transportation of securities taken by fraud
  • Conspiracy
  • Mail fraud
Criminal penalty
  • 8 years in prison for swindling, reversed
  • 15 years for mail fraud and conspiracy, served 7 years in Ft. Leavenworth
Spouse(s)
  • Patsy Howe (1946-2000, her death)
  • Dorris Brookover (?-2013, his death)
Children 5
Parent(s)
  • John and Lillian Estes
Awards one of America’s 10 outstanding young men of 1953, United States Junior Chamber of Commerce
Notes

Billie Sol Estes (January 10, 1925 – May 14, 2013[2]) was an American businessman and financier[3] best known for a business scandal that sent him to jail for fraud multiple times and complicated by his ties to friend and future U.S. President Lyndon Johnson.[4]

Early life

Estes was born January 10, 1925 to John and Lillian Estes on a farm near Clyde, Texas. He was one of six children. He did not attend college, but served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II.[1]

Cotton allotment charges

In the late 1950s, Estes was heavily involved in the Texas anhydrous ammonia business. He produced mortgages on nonexistent ammonia tanks by convincing local farmers to purchase them on credit, sight unseen, and leasing them from the farmers for the same amount as the mortgage payment, paying them a convenience fee as well. He used the fraudulent mortgage holdings to obtain loans from banks outside Texas who were unable to easily check on the tanks.

At the same time, United States Department of Agriculture began controlling the price of cotton, specifying quotas to farmers. The program included an acreage allotment that normally was not transferable from the land it was associated with, but which could be transferred if the original land was taken by eminent domain.

Estes worked out a method to purchase large numbers of cotton allotments, by dealing with farmers who had been dispossessed of land through eminent domain. He convinced the farmers to purchase land from him in Texas and transfer their allotments there, with a mortgage agreement delaying the first payment for a year. Then he would lease the land and allotments back from the farmer for $50 per acre ($120 per hectare).Once the first payment came due, the farmer would intentionally default, and the land would revert to Estes; in effect, Estes had purchased the cotton allotments with the lease fees. However, because the original sale and mortgage were a pretext rather than a genuine sale, it was illegal to transfer the cotton allotments this way. Estes, however, a smooth talker revered by many of his fellow members of the Churches of Christ, asserted the allegations as politics.[5]

Eventually, Estes' schemes collapsed, and in 1963 he was tried and convicted on charges related to the fraudulent ammonia-tank mortgages on both federal and state charges and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. His state conviction was later overturned by the United States Supreme Court in Estes v. Texas, 381 U.S. 532 (1965). His appeal hinged upon the alleged impossibility of a fair trial due to the presence of television cameras and broadcast journalists in the courtroom. He prevailed by a 5-4 vote. Estes was paroled in 1971. Eight years later, he was convicted of other fraud charges and served four more years.[4][6]

Oscar Griffin, Jr., the journalist who uncovered the scandal, later received the 1963 Pulitzer Prize.[7] His articles for a weekly newspaper in Pecos, Texas outlined how the businessman masterminded a Byzantine scheme to borrow money using nonexistent fertilizer storage tanks as collateral, leading to the FBI's investigation. To improve his 1961 candidacy for Reeves County school board, Estes offered the local newspaper large advertising buys in exchange for not opposing him. The Pecos Independent responded with an editorial that said, “We will put our advertising columns up for sale, as will any other newspaper, but we WILL NOT sell our editorial support.” In response, Estes launched the rival Pecos Daily News on August 1, 1961. He spent about $600,000 and the Independent lost $400,000. It was nearly bankrupt when Griffin, its editor, ran (February 12, 1962) the first of four articles describing Estes's fraud but without naming him. Estes was arrested ten days after the last article ran in March. After his arrest, the Daily News went into receivership; the Independent bought it and merged the two newspapers into the Pecos Enterprise.[1][4][8] When Griffin died in 2011, Estes remarked, "It’s a good riddance that he left this world."[4]

Kennedy investigations

In 1962, after information came to light that Estes had paid off four Agriculture officials for grain storage contracts, President John F. Kennedy ordered FBI agents be assigned to investigate Estes and the Justice Department also conducted an investigation which concluded that Orville L. Freeman, then Secretary of Agriculture, was "untainted".[9] Thereafter, Congress held hearings into this matter and other Estes activities including some that led to Vice President Johnson, who had been a business associate of Estes.[10] Some historians say the vice president tried to help Estes with questionable dealings with the Agriculture Department after the storage tank fraud had been exposed.[4] Others noted that Kennedy may have considered dropping Johnson from his ticket in 1964, partly because of the Johnson-Estes connection.[4] Attorney General Robert Kennedy did have FBI director J. Edgar Hoover assign agents to investigate Estes in relation to the ties to Johnson. Hoover reported that they were unable to find any hard evidence as to the allegations against Johnson in his dealings with Estes.[11]

Case cited by Goldwater

In the 1964 presidential election Republican nominee Senator Barry Goldwater in speeches and campaign materials brought up the connection between Johnson and Estes as an issue. Goldwater held that the association was an example of a pattern of "lax morality" in government that was corrupting the nation as a whole.[12][13]

Kennedy assassination allegations

Estes also alleged in the 1980s that he had inside knowledge that Johnson was involved in the assassination of Kennedy.[14][15] In 1984, he provided a voluntary statement to a Grand Jury in Texas alleging that the homicide of a key investigator in the Department of Agriculture case was perpetrated by an aide to Johnson, Malcolm Wallace, upon orders from the then-Vice President.[1] When the Department of Justice asked for more information, Estes responded that he would provide information on eight other murders ordered by Johnson, including the assassination of Kennedy, in exchange for immunity from prosecution and a pardon.[1] According to Estes, Johnson set up the assassination in order to become president.[1] They refused.

Estes reiterated the claim in a book he co-wrote with a French writer in 2003.[15][16] He said that he was not interested in writing the book – published only in France – but that he was offered "a few hundred thousand dollars" to contribute to it.[15] According to the Associated Press, the allegation was "rejected by prominent historians, Johnson aides and family members."[16]

Death

At the time of his death, Estes resided in DeCordova, Texas, just outside Granbury, Texas. Estes died in his sleep at the age of 88.[17]

In popular culture

Estes was referenced in the song medley "Shticks of One and a Half a Dozen of the Other" by Allan Sherman from the album My Son, the Celebrity in a parody of the traditional song "Billy Boy."

The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded "The Ides of Texas (And Don't Fence Me In)" about Estes on the album In Action (Kapp, 1962; re-issued as Blowin' in the Wind) #87.

Estes was mentioned in the 1980's movie 9 to 5 by Lily Tomlin's character.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McFadden, Robert D. (May 14, 2013). "Billie Sol Estes, Texas Con Man Whose Fall Shook Up Washington, Dies at 88". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  2. ↑ "Sheriff: Billy Sol Estes found dead in his De Cordova home". Hood County News. May 14, 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  3. ↑ Staff (May 25, 1962) "Investigations: Decline & Fall" Time Magazine
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Martin, Douglas (December 10, 2011). "Oscar Griffin Jr., 78, Pulitzer Prize Winner Who Brought Down Scheming Texas Tycoon, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  5. ↑ Garrett, Leroy (1962-04-01). "The Church of Billy Sol Estes". Restoration Review. 2 (4). Denton, Texas. Accessed 2011-12-16. Garrett returned to the story with articles in several later volumes.
  6. ↑ Plummer, Marguerite R. (2008). "Billie Sol Estes". American Villains. 1. Salem Press. pp. 180 et seq. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  7. ↑ Blaney, Betsy (1933-04-28). "Editor who won Pulitzer for Estes scandal dies - Obituaries". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
  8. ↑ Reading, Amy (May 16, 2013). "How a Texas Paper Brought Down Billie Sol Estes". BloombergView. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  9. ↑ Dallek, Robert (2003). An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917–1963. p. 500. ISBN 978-0-316-17238-7.
  10. ↑ Dallek 2003, p. 501.
  11. ↑ Dallek 2003, pp. 500-501.
  12. ↑ "Choice" [1964 Barry Goldwater Campaign Film].
  13. ↑ Tom Wicker (November 4, 1964). "Johnson Swamps Goldwater". New York Times.
  14. ↑ Assassination Records Review Board (September 30, 1998). "Chapter 6, Part I: The Quest for Additional Information and Records in Federal Government Offices". Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board (pdf). Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. p. 109. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 Kennedy, Bud (May 15, 2013). "Even for Texas, Billie Sol Estes was a big talker, a big dealer and a big storyteller". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  16. 1 2 "Billie Sol Estes dies at 88; notorious Texas con man in 1960s scandal". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  17. ↑ Randolph, Robert M. (May 22, 2013). "Billie Sol Estes: The Last Campbellite". The Huffington Post. New York. Retrieved 2014-03-27.

Further reading

century

External links

Billie Sol Estes at Find a Grave


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