As reported by the Star-Telegram from Forth Worth, Texas, a strip club owner that was upset about a nuisance lawsuit that the city and state brought against him, and then allegedly attempted to hire someone to kill the two men he felt were responsible, has pleaded guilty to his murderous plot.
R.G., 34, the co-owner of Flashdancer Cabaret, pleaded guilty at the Forth Worth federal courthouse and U.S. District Judge John McBryde scheduled his sentencing for December 28.
If the judge approves of the plea deal – prosecutors dropped an unrelated count of transferring a firearm to a known felon – R.G. will face a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a fine of $250,000.
Had R.G. been convicted on both counts he would have been facing 20 years in prison and up to a $500,000 fine.
R.G. was arrested on April 9, pleaded not guilty in his July hearing and his trial was to be held on September 24.
However, on Thursday September 6, R.G. changed his story. He admitted to contacting an intermediary to hire men on his behalf to murder Arlington Mayor R.C. and Dallas-based contract attorney T.B.
R.G. agreed to pay $20,000 – $10,000 for each kill – to the hit men.
Unbeknownst to R.G. was that the intermediary he was working with was actually an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA informant recorded all meetings and phone calls he had with R.G.
R.G. is represented by Warren St. John, a Fort Worth-based attorney. St. John claims that his client had not really planned to harm either man, he was only frustrated about the roadblocks he was encountering with re-opening his business.
St. John said, "He broke the law. You can't say those things. But nobody was ever going to be killed. He was talking to a confidential informant, so that's impossible."
On April 9 R.G. had his final meeting with the DEA informant. At that meeting the informant was told by R.G. to proceed with Mayor R.C.'s murder – ordered to happen next day. Within a few hours federal agents raided R.G.'s home and arrested him. R.G. had remained in federal custody since April 9.
R.G.'s strip club was closed for a year in January due to the city's lawsuit. The "nuisance" charge was for the use of drugs, prostitution and assaults occurring on the premises.
Planning for a 2013 opening, R.G. was met with further roadblocks as Police Chief T.H. had revoked their sexually oriented business license. T.H. contended that dancers were allowing their customers to touch them – and that information filed with the city had been misleading.
In one year of the closure R.G. allegedly lost $800,000. Federal authorities stated that the two murders were in retribution against the two men for their part in keeping R.G. from reopening.
Contact a criminal defense attorney to plan your defense and help you with your plea as soon as you have been charged with a crime.
