The Man in Black(mail)

You may remember Johnny Cash being arrested in El Paso on a misdemeanor narcotics charge in Oct. 1965.

05 OCT 1965 - CASH MAKES BOND - Country and Western star Johnny Cash, center, is flanked by a bondsman and a U.S. Marshall as he was transferred from El Paso County Jail to the Federal Courthouse Tuesday. Cash was arrested at International Airport Monday and charged with importing and concealing over 1,000 pep pills and tranquilizers. Bond was $1,500.

 

29 DEC 1965 - PLEADS GUILTY - Country and Western music singer and recording star Johnny Cash entered a plea of guilty before U.S. District Judge D.W. Suttle Tuesday at his arraignment on charges of possessing 668 Dexadrin and 475 Equanil tablets when arrested Oct 4 at El Paso International Airport. Cash, left, leaves the Federal Courthouse with his wife, Vivian, and attorney Woodrow W. Bean after Judge Suttle deferred sentence on the misdemeanor charge that carried a possible penalty up to $1,000 fine and one year in prison.

09 MAR 1966 - SINGER RELAXES - Johnny Cash, right, Country and Western music star talks to friends in a local restaurant after receiving a $1,000 fine and a 30-day suspended sentence Tuesday in U.S. District Court for possession of illegal drugs. With Cash, second from left, are the Rev. Floyd Bressett, minister of the non-denominational Avenue Community Church, of Ventura, Calif.; El Paso attorney Woodrow W. Bean, who Cash said gave him "strength during my ordeal," and Johnny Thompson, a friend and former radio announcer. (The man at far left is unidentified.)

But, do you remember the extortion attempt 20 years later?

March 7, 1985

Extortion try gets ex-deputy probation, fine

A former El Paso County sheriff’s sergeant was sentenced Wednesday to five years supervised probation and a $500 fine for threatening to extort money from singer Johnny Cash.

Jesus Gurrola, who pleaded guilty to the extortion charge guilty to the extortion charge Feb. 13, also was required to serve 500 hours community service as part of the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth.

The maximum sentence is two years in prison and $500 fine.

Federal records show Gurrola wrote Cash a hand-written letter about Jan. 29, 1984, threatening to mail the country singer’s arrest records and sheriff’s mug shot to various publications that included People magazine, Parade magazine and the National Enquirer.

No specific amount of money was demanded from cash in the letter. Gurrola wanted the singer to contact him for further negotiations, records show.

In the letter, Gurrola wrote that he “admired” Cash because he always “fought back.”

Gurrola, 37, had been a sheriff’s sergeant from 1979 to 1983, when he was fired by then-Sheriff Mike Davis when he took office.

Last summer, records related to Cash’s 1965 drug arrest in El Paso were discovered missing from Sheriff’s Department files.

Documents missing included photographs and fingerprints taken before Cash pleaded guilty in October 1965 to a misdemeanor narcotics charge and was fined $1,000.

Comments

[msdalloway]

Trish, your blog is the best of the bunch. There are so many cool things in the archive.

[Miller Girl]

What an idiot. How can you extort money from someone by threatening to expose information everyone already knows. It was no secret that Cash was arrested. Not to mention the reason he admired Cash is because he "fought back" Moron.

[Armando Sanchez]

Just a reminder that Jesus Gurrola is a decorated Vietnam Vet, and what ever happened then, he made up for by serving his country in combat.

[Edita]

Wasn't Cash here to play a concert at Liberty Hall? Tex Ritter was one of the others who were to sing, if this is the same time. As I recall, Cash made it but was late and Ritter sang every song he knew, once, twice, and then some til Cash made it.

[Hector Mendoza]

Who cares if he was a decorated Vietnam Veteran. Does that make him Holier then thou? I dont think so. Did going to Vienam deter this idiot from knowing the difference between right and wrong?...I dont think so!...and how can you say, that he "made up for it by serving his country" thats nonsense. Last I remember, Vietnam was an unpopular war amongst Americans. This guy saw a DISHONEST opportunity to make money off a celebrity and Vietnam has NOTHING to do with it!

[SunCityCynic]

So cool Trish!
Thank you Mr. Gurrola for serving our country! However, I agree that his status as a decorated war veteran is irrelevant.