A Texas strip club owner attempted to hire Mexican hit-men to murder two city officials, according to an FBI criminal complaint.
Police arrested Ryan Walker Grant on Monday after an investigation revealed that he allegedly targeted Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and contract attorney Tom Brandt for hurting his business.
Grant, who co-owns the Flashdancer Cabaret, recently agreed to suspend the club's operations for one year to settle a nuisance lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General's Office and the City of Arlington. Following the agreement, the Arlington officials continued to pursue the Flashdancer case, attempting to revoke the club's "Sexually Oriented Business" license.
"They just jacked me for a year of business and they're trying to jack me indefinitely, when we had a deal, and they just reneged on it," Grant told an unnamed accomplice, referred to as "Individual A," according to the complaint.
On April 3, Grant called "Individual A" to say that he needed "somebody to take a vacation up here to do a job from down south," a recoded phone conversation revealed.
According to the FBI complaint:
Grant gave an example that if a movie was playing in Miami then a person from Cuba would fly to Miami to watch the movie, and after watching the movie, that person would go back to Cuba and never come back to Miami. Through conducting this investigation and confidential source information, law enforcement officers have learned that Grant often speaks in code and uses the term "watch a movie" to mean have someone murdered.
Grant agreed to pay $10,000-a-head to see Cluck and Brandt dead, the FBI complaint said.
On April 5 and 6, Grand communicated with "Individual A" via cellphone, directing the contact person not proceed without further direction. On April 9, Grant confirmed one of the two targets, the complaint said.
On Tuesday, the City of Arlington published a statement regarding the arrest.
"I feel confident this case will be thoroughly investigated," Mayor Cluck said in a press release. "We as a city council must always act in the best interests of the City of Arlington. I believe we’ve done that and will continue to do so.”
Grant's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, according to Courthouse News.
LOOK: The FBI criminal complaint:
Ryan Walker Grant