An Air National Guardsman was arrested and charged on Thursday after allegedly applying to be a hitman on a parody website, officials say.
Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 21, came across www.rentahitman.com while searching for contract mercenary jobs to support his family, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Tennessee. The website was created in 2005 and used originally to advertise a cyber security startup, but when it failed, it would receive inquiries for hitman services — so its administrator converted it to a parody site with false testimonials from individuals who claimed to have used its services.
The Tennessee man applied via the website to get work as a hitman, submitting identification documents and a resume, as well as “indicating he was an expert marksman,” earning him the nickname “Reaper,” and employed in the Air National Guard since July 2021,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Garcia continued to follow up on the website and eventually agreed to kill someone for $5,000 while in conversation with an undercover FBI agent, authorities said.
“On Wednesday, Garcia met the undercover agent at a park in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and was provided with a target packet of a fictional individual, which included photographs and other information about the individual to be killed, and a down payment of $2,500,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “After agreeing to the terms of the murder arrangement, Garcia asked the agent if he needed to provide a photograph of the dead body. Garcia was then arrested by FBI agents, who in a subsequent search of his home, recovered an AR style rifle.”
Garcia was charged in the commission of murder-for-hire. If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
The FBI is continuing to investigate the case.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
