*A Grand Jury has indicted a South Carolina man who tried to hire a hitman to murder his African American neighbor.
Brandon Cory Lecroy, 25, of Hodges, was arrested in April after he contacted a white supremacist group and began a conversation that ended up making arrangements to get the job done.
He had no idea he was negotiating the deed with an undercover FBI agent, according to what authorities say in federal court docs.
On Tuesday, Lecroy was indicted on federal charges of soliciting someone to commit a violent crime, and using interstate commerce facilities — in this case, a cellphone — in the alleged scheme, the US Attorney’s Office in Greenville says.
No one knows why Lecroy wanted his neighbor dead, but then again, has anyone ever met a racist that could string two sentences together to form a cohesive thought?
A probable cause affidavit doesn’t explain how he came into contact with the FBI agent. Another head-scratcher is that he actually had plans to take over the the “deceased man’s” property.
According to a MSN News article…The affidavit states an FBI informant told investigators in March that Lecroy contacted a white supremacist organization, and “indicated that he wanted to seek assistance with the murder of his African-American neighbor.”
The next day, Lecroy talked by phone to an undercover FBI agent in Virginia, and allegedly made an arrangement with the undercover agent “to pay for the murder of his neighbor,” according to court documents.
In the call, Lecroy made a request “to put a ‘flaming cross’ in the front yard and hang his neighbor from a tree,” the affidavit says.
“Five hundred dollars and he’s a ghost,” Lecroy said during the phone call, according to the court document.
Lecroy reaffirmed the agreement via phone two days later and gave the undercover agent “further intelligence on when to best … commit the murder as well as plans to take over the victim’s property,” the affidavit says.
On April 9, Lecroy met the undercover agent in Greenwood, South Carolina, discussed “future targets,” and gave the agent “a $100 cash down payment with acknowledgment that this payment was for the murder of his neighbor,” the affidavit says.
He was arrested the same day.
It is not clear where Lecroy is being detained, but after his hearing a U. S. District Court Judge ordered Lecroy be committed for up to 45 days to a federal facility for a psychiatric or psychological evaluation.
Prosecutors say that if all charges get a conviction, Lecroy could face up to 10 years in jail, with a potential fine of up to $250,000 attached.
