Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, will have one fewer Papá Noel (Santa Claus) this year.
James Earl Bailey, 69, a self-proclaimed hippie who had been on the lam for 14 years, pleaded guilty Thursday in San Antonio to charges of manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants.
Since skipping bail in 2003, he’d settled in the northern Mexico town that borders Laredo and lived in a modest home there with the earnings he got from playing ol’ St. Nick.
Though his skin color would make him stand out in Mexico, Bailey drew little attention and was embraced as Papá Noel — how Santa Claus is referred to in many Latin American countries. He spoke some Spanish, volunteered at an orphanage, and lost weight.
“They asked me if I wanted to extradite him,” Garcia said. “I said, No, he’s a U.S. citizen, he can be deported here. They approached him, and he agreed to be turned over, so they walked him over the bridge and handed him over.”He was returned to the Alamo City to answer to charges that began after detectives with the San Antonio Police Department raided his home in the 3200 block of West Glenview Drive on Oct. 16, 2002. Investigators found his marijuana-grow operation, including 40 pounds of marijuana and 230 marijuana plants.
“The pot was for himself, and he got good,” McHugh said. “He had a good product. People began buying it from him.”
But Bailey is no big-time dealer, and he’s not violent, McHugh argued. Indeed, Bailey stood out among the much younger, heavily tattooed, mean-mugging drug defendants in federal court. Dressed in a blue jail jumpsuit, Bailey’s locks were gray, he had to use glasses to read his court documents and he was given amplified headphones so he could hear U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad.
The judge asked him if everything was correct in his plea documents, which contain a portion that says Bailey is a hippie.
“Yes your honor,” Baily replied. “The only thing that’s different is I’m an older hippie.”
Bailey faces up to 40 years in prison when Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia sentences him on Dec. 14.
“He hopes the court isn’t going to be a grinch,” McHugh said.
credit:mysanantonio.com