Obedience School

"Murragara is not the bad guy in this," says Werley, whose client took action against Cartwright months before the attorney general sued both of them. Murragara filed a complaint with the Dallas office of The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging Cartwright had taken advantage of Murragara's limited English.

Werley says Murragara tried to pay taxes on a property he'd sold to his son when he found out the deed he'd been given by Cartwright was a forgery. Murragara then filed his claim against Cartwright's company, R.I.C.H. Building & Business Systems in August 2004, alleging that Cartwright knowingly sold the properties without valid titles. A settlement for $175,000 was arranged and payments were to begin in January 2005. In a letter verifying the settlement, Cartwright notes that the reimbursement is not "an admission of any discriminatory practices."

Mark Graham

Johanna Smith got busted for Bella, her "dog at large."

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Murragara says he will repay his clients as soon as Cartwright reimburses him, but he has filed an additional suit against Cartwright because no payments in the settlement have been made, Werley says.

Cartwright, who lives in an upscale neighborhood in Mansfield, would say only that he had been in business for several years and that he had not encountered any legal trouble until now and that the claims were unfounded. "I've been doing this for 15 years," Cartwright said in a phone interview. "They just never write about all the successful deals I've made."

Still working just a block away from Murragara's restaurant, Cuadros says he is comforted knowing that legal action is finally being taken in his case. "People come in [to the tire shop] and tell me what a fool I was," Cuadros says, "but I just sit there, relaxed. I know that eventually justice will be done."

The attorney general's suit also accuses Cartwright of falsely representing his businesses as legally incorporated. Another man, Jose Menjarez, is named for allegedly practicing law without a license after promising to represent consumers against Cartwright and Murragara. --Andrea Grimes