In 1963 Estes was tried and convicted on charges related to the fraudulent ammonia tank mortgages on both federal and state charges and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. His state conviction was later overturned by the United States Supreme Court in "Estes v. Texas", . His appeal hinged upon the alleged impossibility of a fair trial due to the presence of television cameras and broadcast journalists in the courtroom. He prevailed by a 5–4 vote. Estes was paroled in 1971. Eight years later, he was convicted of other fraud charges and served four more years. Oscar Griffin, Jr., the journalist who uncovered the storage tank scandal, later received the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for his articles for a weekly newspaper in Pecos, Texas. To improve his 1961 candidacy for Reeves County school board, Estes offered the local newspaper large advertising buys in exchange for not opposing him. The "Pecos Independent" responded with an editorial that said, "We will put our advertising columns up for sale, as will any other newspaper, but we WILL NOT sell our editorial support." In response, Estes launched the rival "Pecos Daily News" on August 1, 1961. He spent about $600,000 and the "Independent" lost $400,000. It was nearly bankrupt when Griffin, its editor, ran (February 12, 1962) the first of four articles describing Estes's fraud but without naming him. Estes was arrested ten days after the last article ran in March. After his arrest, the "Daily News" went into receivership and the "Independent" bought it and merged the two newspapers into the "Pecos Enterprise". When Griffin died in 2011, Estes remarked, "It's a good riddance that he left this world." Estes also alleged in the 1980s that he had inside knowledge that Johnson was involved in the assassination of Kennedy. In 1984, he provided a voluntary statement to a grand jury in Texas alleging that the homicide of a key investigator in the Department of Agriculture case was perpetrated by Malcolm Wallace, an aide to Johnson, upon orders from the then-Vice President. Estes claimed that Johnson was involved in the fraud schemes and had the official killed to prevent him from exposing Johnson's role. Two former Johnson associates responded to the allegations stating Estes was a "pathological liar". When the Department of Justice asked for more information, Estes responded that he would provide information on eight other murders ordered by Johnson, including the assassination of Kennedy, in exchange for immunity from prosecution and a pardon.