Old Los Angeles Drug Kingpin Finally Goes to Prison-Unrelenting LAPD Detective Honored

Los Angeles: On Friday, February 15, 2002, at 10:00 a.m., the United States Attorney’s Office will honor Los Angeles Police Department Detective James "Jeff" Redman, for his outstanding investigative work leading to the arrest and conviction of notorious drug kingpin, Eddie Nash.
Since 1994, Detective Redman has been assigned to a multi-agency Federal Task Force overseen by the Chief of the U. S. Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force. This task force targeted a group of individuals involved in an elaborate Federal Fuel Tax fraud scheme. In 1996, the task force members began to investigate a criminal conspiracy involving Eddie Nash. During the early 1970’s, Nash had been widely reputed as a major Los Angeles area drug dealer and owned many adult nightclubs in the Southern California region. His nightclubs included the Seven Seas, Starwood, Odyssey, Ali Baba’s and The Kit Kat Club.
Nash was well known as the alleged mastermind of the 1981 Laurel Canyon slayings that later became known as the "Wonderland Murders." In that grisly case, four people were savagely bludgeoned to death in retaliation for an alleged drug theft from Nash. LAPD detectives arrested Nash and his bodyguard, Gregory Diles, in 1986 for the murders, but two trials ended in acquittal. Homicide detectives had long suspected that Nash bribed a lone dissenting juror in that case.
During a lengthy and complicated investigation spanning several years, Detective Redman and his team of investigators, were able to identify and locate numerous witnesses who had critical information regarding Nash’s illegal activities. A key break came when the team located the holdout juror and obtained an admission that he had accepted a bribe from Nash in exchange for a jury vote to acquit him for the Wonderland Murders.
On May 16, 2000, Nash was successfully indicted by a Los Angeles Federal Grand Jury on 16 criminal counts stemming from activities reaching back to the early 1970’s in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Evidence has been established to confirm that Nash’s organization was involved in money laundering and drug trafficking through his Southern California nightclubs. Nash was also charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Intimidating and Threatening a Witness, Bribery of a Witness, and Bribery of a Juror in a Capital Murder Case for his involvement in the Wonderland Murders. By agreement, Nash, who is now in his 70’s, plead guilty to the above charges on September 10, 2001. Nash was sentenced to four and one half years in prison. He will also pay a $250,000 fine and submit to five years of supervised release upon the expiration of his prison term.
This media advisory was prepared by Public Information Officer Guillermo Campos, Media Relations Section, 213-485-3586.