. >> reporter: his full name was billie earl johnson. minal, with a reputation for being mean and scrappy. a reputation billie didn't mind discussing. >> i mean i got a reputation for being a badass. i mean, i -- i ain't -- everybody's claiming me to be tough and bad. i don't claim to be tough and bad. i'm mean. i'm gonna hurt you. if you jump on me, i'm gonna hurt you. >> reporter: the cops knew billie earl was a tough guy from east texas, an area about 90 miles from carrollton, home to those piney woods. billie was the ringleader of a colorful crew, many of them petty criminals, related to billie by blood or marriage. >> they're certainly a strange cast of characters. but, you know, they're east texas folks and some people might depict 'em as -- as the hee-haw gang. >> reporter: a gang that was just getting by in a region that's struggling to make it. >> there's a lot of drugs, lot of methamphetamine out there. you know, if someone makes money out there or gets -- has extra money, they just hand it out to each other. >> reporter: at his