Man, 78, sentenced in cocaine case

Jace Radke

Monday, Dec. 16, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

A 78-year-old man has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for his part in a cocaine deal involving Robert Marshall, one of the subjects of an FBI investigation that may reveal new evidence in the murder of gaming figure Ted Binion.

Clarence Jay Crozier was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lloyd George on Friday after Crozier testified against Marshall and pleaded guilty to distributing about 1,000 grams of cocaine. Crozier also faces four years of probation.

Marshall, 69, was convicted of brokering the March 2001 cocaine deal between Crozier and a third party in Las Vegas. Marshall, who has previous drug convictions from 1988 and 1985 and is a four-time felon, could get 10 years to life in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for Friday.

Marshall was one of the subjects of a series of wiretaps in December 1999 as a part of an FBI investigation into racketeering, drug trafficking and the possibility of co-conspirators involved in the killing of Ted Binion.

Rick Tabish, convicted of Binion's murder, is suing the Justice Department and the FBI requesting the information in the investigation, hoping that it will clear him in the murder.

In October U.S. District Judge James Mahan ordered the FBI to provide him with any clear evidence the agency may have that could clear Tabish of the murder. Mahan is expected to review the materials and make a decision as to the nature of the information Jan. 3.

Authorities also believe that Marshall may have information about a 1972 car-bombing that killed a former FBI agent. FBI agents and Metro Police homicide detectives have been unsuccessful in getting information from Marshall about the murder of William Coulthard, a former FBI agent who was the landlord of Binion's Horseshoe at the time of his death.