An Arlington men's club operator who has been battling city officials over his license to operate has been arrested as the FBI investigates what an affidavit describes as a murder-for-hire plot against Mayor Robert Cluck and contract attorney Tom Brandt.
Flashdancer co-owner Ryan Walker Grant is in federal custody at Parker County Jail in Weatherford. An FBI affidavit alleges that he recently asked an unidentified informant to arrange the murders after the city sought a lawsuit to shut his club down. Grant had reached a settlement with the city, agreeing to close his club for a year. However, the city is now seeking to revoke his license to run a sexually orientated business.
According to the affidavit, Grant asked that hit men imported from Mexico do the killings and offered $10,000 per killing.
No one was injured.
The affidavit says Grant's plans began April 3 with a text message to the informant. That led to a telephone conversation with the informant, which was recorded. The FBI says Grant used code words, with "watch a movie" meaning to have someone killed.
Later that day, the informant went to Grant's home in the nearby town of Kennedale, where the FBI says Grant identified the two he wanted killed. According to the affidavit, Grant said, "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." According to the affidavit, Grant said he would lose $800,000 a year if shut down and asked the informant to set up the killings.
On April 5 and 6, Grant communicated via cellphone with the informant, telling the informant not to proceed with the killings until they could discuss the matter further. However, on April 9, Grant directed that one of the two targeted officials be killed.
The affidavit does not say how the conversations were recorded and even says Grant had the informant lift his shirt to allow him to check for a hidden recording device.
Online jail records do not list Grant's bail status or whether he has an attorney. A Parker County sheriff's spokeswoman did not return a message seeking comment.
AP
CAUTION: The below affidavit contains offensive language.