Lexington Hells Angel pleaded guilty to hiring FBI source to kill ex-wife
The Lexington County Hells Angel who attempted to hire a friend to kill his ex-wife pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Jerry Oliver, age 52, pleaded guilty in federal court in Columbia to murder for hire, according to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake.
Oliver, a member of the Lexington County-Columbia chapter of the Hells Angel motorcycle club, hired a friend to kill his ex-wife to make sure that she did not get some of his 401(k) retirement money. But the friend was a source for the FBI.
According to testimony, the friend told Oliver that he needed help to fight a DUI charge. The friend was a truck driver, and a drunken-driving conviction would mean the friend would lose his job.
Oliver told the friend that he would give him $1,500 to hire a lawyer to fight the DUI charge if the friend would kill his ex-wife.
The friend, who had a confidential relationship with the FBI, told the FBI about the deal, and agreed to wear a secret miniature video and audio recording device and numerous recordings of in-person and over the phone discussions of killing the ex-wife were captured.
Subsequently, Oliver and the FBI source discussed the best way to kill the ex-wife, including “a gang-banger drive-by shooting,” or making “it look like a robbery gone wrong,” according to testimony.
The FBI source told Oliver that he was a felon multiple times and that he needed help getting a firearm to do the murder, according to Drake’s office.
Oliver told the FBI source he would leave a gun under the front seat of an old Studebaker car on his property, according to testimony. With three FBI agents, the friend retrieved the loaded Glock .40-caliber handgun with a round chambered.
In mid-October, after the source retrieved the loaded gun that Oliver allegedly had left for him, Oliver was arrested.
The maximum penalty for murder for hire is 10 years in prison and/or a fine of $250,000, according to Drake’s office, which said Oliver agreed to a negotiated maximum 10-year sentence.
Staff writer John Monk contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Lexington Hells Angel pleaded guilty to hiring FBI source to kill ex-wife."