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Ryan Grant, owner of the Flashdancer Cabaret, agreed to shut the club's doors for one year in order to settle a lawsuit with Arlington city officials.
A Texas strip-club owner accused of hiring a hit man to kill Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and attorney Tom Brandt was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday.
According to an FBI criminal complaint, Grant, of Kennedale, offered to pay $10,000 for each murder.
Grant, 34, was reportedly angry with Cluck and the attorney after he agreed to close his strip club, Flashdancer Cabaret, for one year in order to settle a nuisance lawsuit filed by the city and the Texas attorney general.
Read the original report at NBCDFW.com
Grant sought to hire two Mexican hit men to kill Cluck and Brandt, according to affidavits. Court documents say that Grant went so far as to set up a meeting at which he met with a man about the murder-for-hire plot and provided pictures of Cluck and Brandt.
"Obviously, he's very, very, angry, and when I heard the facts from the FBI, obviously we were very concerned about it," Cluck said in April. "We're still concerned, but he is in federal custody and will remain that way for the foreseeable future."
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FBI Special Agent Matthew Wilkins testified during a detention hearing that an informant had contact with Grant on at least four occasions, beginning on April 3, and that there are audio and video recordings of some of those conversations.
According to the indictment, "during the next few days, Grant and the intermediary spoke via cell phones, and during those conversations Grant directed the intermediary to not proceed with the murders until they could meet to discuss the matter further.
On April 9, 2012, the intermediary and Grant met at Grant's residence, where Grant confirmed that he wanted Mayor Cluck killed. The intermediary left Grant's residence and Grant was arrested shortly thereafter."
Grant was arrested April 9, the same day he had ordered the hits on Cluck and Brandt.
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At the time of his arrest, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Grant's home and seized 22 firearms and nearly $150,000 in cash.
Grant now faces one count of murder-for-hire and one count of the unlawful transfer of a firearm for giving a Norinco semi-automatic rifle to an individual he knew to be a felon.
If convicted, each count carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
NBCDFW.com's Scott Gordon, Randy McIlwain and Ben Russell contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
first.
just sayin..
The hitmen were Mexicans. More American jobs being taken by illegals.
DEY tuk errrrrrr jUUUUUuuuuurrrrbs.
Let me get this straight.
Corrupt city lawmakers harassed a business and shut it down, destroying the livelihoods of it's owner and employees. They did it because of some "moral objection" to women's boobs. The club owner had no legal options available in the corrupt town. He chose to take the repulsive f***tards out for basically taking EVERYTHING.
And the club owner is the bad guy?
LOL! The point of this story is hire only who you know.
My feelings exactly. When you get to the point where you're being harassed by people in positions of power, and you can't do anything about it, I really can't blame the guy for trying to do what he did
Ditto.
How on earth do these corrupt politicians get elected in the first place? Don't Americans get tired of the government telling them how to live their lives?
The American government destroys the lives of its own citizens - shameful!
Yep. Any other questions?
And since Grant likes consorting with Mexican hitmen so much, he should feel right at home in a Texas prison. Buh-bye.
Meanwhile, a "moral objection"?
To be fair, drugs and prostitution should probably be legal. If they had been, I'm guessing fewer aggravated assaults and other criminal activity. Problem solved.
Yes, and if drugs and prostitution were legal, there'd be much more competition for the Flashdancer Cabaret to contend with, and therefore Mr. Grant probably wouldn't be missing out on the "$800,000/year" he claims to be losing while his license to do "business" is under suspension. At which point he may decide to pursue other, more lucrative interests. Either way, he's done. Problem solved.
By the way, $150,000 cash found in his home? That's some valuable tax revenue the IRS may want to investigate...
Ooooh John,Doh certainly appears to be the little govt. stooge that spies on his neighbors.
Start making sense.
All you twits who I'm guessing frequented this club and stared at boobs that you can't get on your own - remember, if you irritate him with the laws of the land, he'll shoot you, too. No loss, I guess.
Yea they were making it really hard for him to launder his and the Mexicans drug and prostitution money through a cash only business! How dare they! BTW how close is the nearest strip club to your home?
Start making sense
Ok.
Dang--now that's a temper tantrum....
He only had 22 guns. Isn't that a little light by Texas standards? That must be why he had to hire someone to murder these men. Guns don't kill people, the people you hire to kill people, kill people - well, maybe. My, my, my.
Maybe the mayor was not a "tit man". I myself would have sent an ASSassin with a pair of 38's or maybe if he was a tough nut to crack go with the 45's and got pictures and blackmailed them. Business 101.
dont like how things are going hire a hit man! are you guys outta your freakin minds!
These clubs are basically "Scumatoriums" that low-life degenerates flock to and get hosed down for the entire contents of their wallets more often than not. Then they all run home to masturbate furiously while the memories are still fresh in their alcohol soaked brains. I've known a number of habitués of these places, and not a single one of them could ever get a real relationship with a real woman, so they go to these skank dumpsters to get their jollies. The owner is likewise a low-life degenerate, and a stupid loser to boot, and will have an extended vacation in a state or fed pen where he will get some interesting lessons in male bonding. I have no doubt that the defenders of this owner are likewise patrons of these hooker havens, and have never been in a real relationship either.
We must go to different strip clubs. Your clubs sound terrible! Why do you even go?
Even if the people that go to these clubs are as low as you claim - so what?
Maybe you are an intelligent, beautiful, hard working, honest, attractive person. Maybe you are not. But why look down your nose at people who haven't been as blessed as you?
Pride is also a sin, and it's the worst sin of all.
"Then they all run home to masturbate furiously"--Mymomdidnotraiseafool
At least they're getting something, even if it is just Rosy Palm and her five daughters. You oughtta try it sometime, it could release some of your backed-up, pent-up, uhm, anger and you'll feel better and maybe not so critical of people you don't know.
BTW, I've been married 23 years to a beautiful woman who just LUVS it when I come home from the strip club. No Rosy for me!!! Sorry you have troubles, though.
Just love all the assumptions being made about me here, such as the one who thought I actually now go to these dumps, and the others who think I'm some kind of sexually frustrated bluenose. You couldn't be more wrong on all counts if you tried. How pride got into this mix I will never understand. I didn't say that I was proud of not going to these dumps, but rather that the people who do go there largely have issues with the opposite sex, and this seems to be their way of coping with that.
The fact that none of them seem to mind getting their wallets walloped for this is a sign that they really have no sense of value or discernment. As I said, I know a number of people who frequent these scumatoriums, and not a single one of them has a successful relationship with a woman. They may be married, they may have children, but they find it necessary to go to these dives and waste their money on watered booze and phony attention from the sluts on the poles.
It's not like I never went to one of these places, but it was always because I was with a bunch of guys, most of whom were sexually frustrated, and I usually left after a very few minutes in disgust. No, I don't think paying 8 dollars for crappy beer to watch floppy boobs is a bargain. The bathrooms are open sewers, and having other guys in the same room going at it with Rosie is pretty grotesque. I only used the bathroom in any of these joints once, and can count the number of times I have been to one of these skuzz markets on one hand. I have not been to one in many, many years, and will never set foot in one again, but the guys that are regulars never seem to get it.
So it's OK for you to make assumptions about people who go to strip clubs (which are legal BTW), but if people make assumptions about you, then it's wrong. IOKIYAR strikes again.
Mymomdidnotraiseafool
Are you AssUMeIng that they are dumps or do you have experience? It's gotta be one or the other.
Now who exactly is making assumptions? How do you know ALL, or even a large number of, the people that go to these places?
Really NONE of them? and just because they don't "value" what you value doesn't make them any less or better than you... or is that what you are stating?
OK so you hang with people of a certain class... Generally people hand out with others of their own level... again where does that put you?
scumatoriums, Just define what that is... Are you stating that all adult themed establishments are scum? Topless, nude, or just bars in general?
You sound VERY familiar with the goings on in these establishments. Did you have a bad experience or just get kicked out because you couldn't follow the rules?
OH WAIT I do see you admit to ONE experience in ONE establishment. Speaking from experience these places are like restaurants. Some barely pass the health inspection and others are high class. Apparently you haven't been to many regular establishments that also charge $8 or more for a beer. Do you think the wait person is any more interested in you there than they are in the nudy bar? I haven't been in years but it was fun in most places...especially watching some of those fools make asses of themselves. The stage show wasn't bad either.
.
CC GWRider, wanna bet about how much your wife loves you coming home drunk with a hard on?
Loretta Lynn
Mymom, you hit that nail on the head.
You mean he hit his head with that nail. You guys need to take off your bow ties and go party somewhere.
I can't even imagine their idea of a party.
So that is where Tony SAProno moved too!
How many times are they going to run this OLD story... They published this over a month ago with the same (lack of) details. I guess they thought it was going to be a slow news day at the new NBCHIISTORY.com
Sounds like a job for Buford Pusser
Damn. Moral of the story is always hire a hitman in Texas. Kill someone, you get the death penalty. Hire somone?! You get a max of ten years. SWEET. Go Texas.
Where is Jack Ruby when you need him?
Dallas just isn't the same...
Let's wait to hear what the murderer has to say before we jump to conclusions. Most incidents have more than one cause or motive, and things are almost always more a combination of factors than just one. In the mean time let's hope that all the survivors have the best available medical and psychological treatment. I have my suspicions of course as I'm sure most people do.
Murderer? Really? Convicted already?
This is so Grand Theft Auto. Love it! LOL
I can't say I condone hiring a hitman, the only reason that would ever possibly be remotely okay is if the person(s) in power are directly threatening or knowingly harming you or your family. But even then if they are doing something illegal like that, you should just be able to go to the press or something, and have the officials publicly investigated and tried.
Also, hiring a couple of Mexican "hitmen" is probably not the best way to go, and if you find an ad in Craigslist offering "wet work", that probably isn't an assassin, lol.
Not that the owner was justified in seeking someone else to do his dirty work, but if you want something done right, you're better off doing it yourself. As the old saying goes, two people can keep a secret........if one of them is dead.