{"product_id":"last-gangster-in-austin-frank-smith-ronnie-earle-and-the-end-of-a-junkyard-mafia-paperback","title":"Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard Mafia - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJesse Sublett\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRonnie Earle was a Texas legend. During his three decades as the district attorney responsible for Austin and surrounding Travis County, he prosecuted corrupt corporate executives and state officials, including the notorious US congressman Tom DeLay. But Earle maintained that the biggest case of his career was the one involving Frank Hughey Smith, the ex-convict millionaire, alleged criminal mastermind, and Dixie Mafia figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the help of corrupt local authorities, Smith spent the 1970s building a criminal empire in auto salvage and bail bonds. But there was one problem: a rival in the salvage business threatened his dominance. Smith hired arsonists to destroy the rival; when they botched the job, he sent three gunmen, but the robbery they planned was a bloody fiasco. Investigators were convinced that Smith was guilty, but many were skeptical that the newly elected and inexperienced Earle could get a conviction. Amid the courtroom drama and underworld plots the book describes, Willie Nelson makes a cameo. So do the private eyes, hired guns, and madams who kept Austin not only weird but also riddled with vice. An extraordinary true story, \u003ci\u003eLast Gangster in Austin\u003c\/i\u003e paints an unusual picture of the Texas capital as a place that was wild, wonderful, and as crooked as the dirt road to paradise.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJesse Sublett is an author, musician, and painter in Austin. This is his fourteenth book. He last wrote about the Austin underworld in \u003ci\u003e1960s Austin Gangsters: Organized Crime That Rocked the Capital.\u003c\/i\u003e Other notable books include \u003ci\u003eArmadillo World Headquarters: A Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e (with Eddie Wilson), and his memoir \u003ci\u003eNever the Same Again: A Rock 'n' Roll Gothic\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 224\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.79 x 8.43 x 5.43 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 07, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51766750314784,"sku":"9781477323984","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/22b09a139c15eb6685efbec1605aecc2.webp?v=1780298138","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/last-gangster-in-austin-frank-smith-ronnie-earle-and-the-end-of-a-junkyard-mafia-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}