Brandon also told the white supremacist to burn a cross in the victim’s front yard, while also hanging the black man from a tree.
Brandon wanted to pay $500 to a white supremacist to kill his black neighbor. Unbeknownst to Lecroy, the purported “hitman” was an undercover FBI agent. To catch criminals, the FBI often uses undercover agents posing as fellow crooks and records conversations so as to have irrefutable evidence.
On March 20, 2018 an FBI undercover agent pretending to be a hit-man had a phone conversation with Brandon, during which Brandon told the agent “$500 and he’s a ghost” — meaning Brandon would pay $500 for the kill. Brandon also wanted the hit-man to hang his neighbor from a tree.
The same day, Brandon texted the undercover agent “images and names of two intended targets, including his neighbor, described only as “FJ.”
In a later phone call, Lecroy told the undercover agent when it would be best to commit the murder, then discussed “plans to take over the victim’s property,” according to an affidavit. The FBI agent also met personally with Brandon and received $100 as a down payment for the murder.
Brandon of Greenwood County, pleaded guilty to the federal crime of trying to hire a hit-man to carry out a murder. He awaits sentencing in a Spartanburg jail.
Brandon could be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison.
