Christopher Omigie had a good thing going: A self-proclaimed witch doctor, he made hundreds of thousands of dollars offering Texas drug traffickers insulation from authorities using magical incantations, card readings and massages.
But the magic must have worn off, as the 58-year-old Lafayette man — a Nigeria native who graduated from UL Lafayette — was sentenced in Texas last week to 14 years in federal prison for drug trafficking.
Locally, Omigie was known for founding the now-defunct Lafayette Reggae & Cultural Festival in 1989 (read our profile of the man here). But for two major drug trafficking organizations out of East Texas, he was known as an African witch doctor with a specialized skill-set.
Drug traffickers in the Cesar Barrera and David Bazan drug trafficking organizations in East Texas consulted Omigie daily — before, during and after each drug deal. They paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars for his services.
Those services included card readings and massages he gave them with magic ointments. He also cut their skin with razor blades and applied magic powder.
Omigie’s other treatments included magic amulets, magic belts, magic coconuts and magic rocks that drug dealers were required to talk to.
Omigie also told them to “go without bathing and intercourse for a period of time following magic treatments so as not to diminish the potency of those ministrations,” federal authorities said.
In addition, magic “law stay away” candles were burned so the drug traffickers could avoid detection.
Omigie regularly returned to Africa, courtesy of his drug dealer employers, “to re-new his supernatural powers,” authorities said.
Omigie, who was federally indicted in 2013 and pleaded guilty in October 2014, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for his role in the East Texas drug trafficking operation.