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this is about mi step dad ....
Ronald Scott Preacher, 34, was arrested Wednesday by agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on a federal charge of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, according to the arrest report. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of suspended release, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said.
A preliminary hearing was held Thursday at the U.S. District Courthouse in which FBI Special Agent Zachary Coates testified about the events that led to Preacher's arrest.
According to arrest records, Coates was contacted on Monday by a co-worker of Preacher's at a Tennessee Street auto shop who said Preacher offered to pay him money in mid-July to kill a man who "had stolen the affections of his former girlfriend." The report states Preacher and the new boyfriend were once best friends, but the intended victim was now dating the mother of Preacher's child.
When the co-worker told Preacher he wasn't willing to kill the man, Preacher asked the witness if he could find someone else to do it, the report said.
The witness made a recorded call to Preacher on Monday, saying he had found somebody to carry out the killing, according to the report. The witness and the "hit man," who was actually an undercover FBI agent, met with Preacher on Tuesday. According to the report, Preacher told the "hit man," "I just want this (expletive) to disappear, him and his truck, vanish forever, never come back. However you do, whatever you do, I don't care."
According to the report, Preacher exchanged phone calls and text messages with the co-worker later that evening in which he talked about calling off the murder plot.
On Wednesday, Preacher gave the co-worker a bag containing $1,250 and photos of the man he wanted killed, according to the report. He wanted the co-worker to pass on the money to the "hit man" because he was concerned that the man might actually be a cop.
The undercover agent on Wednesday met with Preacher where Preacher told him that he wanted to call the plan off, because he believed, "it would come back on him."
Shortly after that meeting, Preacher left work abruptly and was pulled over and arrested by FDLE agents.
During Thursday's hearing, Coates said Preacher hesitated because he was afraid of getting caught, not because he no longer wanted the intended victim dead.
Assistant U.S. Public Defender William Clark, who represented Preacher, argued against detaining his client because of Preacher's strong ties to the community.
Hinkle granted the U.S. Attorney's motion to keep Preacher detained pending further action.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rhew-Miller said "the weight of the evidence is very strong," and noted that the intended victim told investigators he had been threatened by Preacher before.
 Xxfallen_angel_vampirexX · Fri Jul 31, 2009 @ 12:48pm · 1 Comments |
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