Vengeance-filled SC inmate pleads guilty to hiring ‘hit man’ who was an FBI agent

An inmate at a South Carolina federal prison pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of hiring a hit man to kill the prosecutor and witness who were crucial in getting him sentenced to prison.

It turned out that the “hit man” the inmate was trying to hire was actually an undercover FBI agent who pretended to be a killer, according to a complaint filed in the case.

Richard Gilbert, 52, pleaded guilty in federal court in Greenville before U.S. District Judge Henry Herlong, Jr. to one count of murder-for-hire and one count of retaliation against an informant, according to public court filings.

According to a plea agreement signed last week, Gilbert has agreed to accept a sentence of nearly 22 years for his foiled hit man plot.

Gilbert’s targets included the prosecutor and confidential informant in the Bowling Green, Kentucky, case where he was convicted of trafficking in methamphetamine and given an 11-year prison sentence, according to a statement read in court by prosecutor assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Holloway.

Another possible target was the ATF special agent who helped investigate the case, Holloway said. His motive against them all: retaliation, Holloway told the judge.

Gilbert had sent the undercover FBI agent a check for $2,000 as a down payment for carrying out the killings, according to evidence. The money came from his canteen account and a hand-written note scrawled on the check said, “Investment firm.”

Under a plea agreement made public last week, Gilbert has agreed to serve a 21-year and 9-month sentence on the hit man charges.

Gilbert was already serving an 11-year sentence on a conviction for methamphetamine trafficking. Under his 11-year sentence, he was slated to leave prison in 2027. But now, he will have his latest sentence added to his current sentence, which means he won’t get out until about 2049, when he is in his 80s.

Prosecutors in the case are Holloway, Will Jordan and Jim May. Gilbert’s defense attorney is Erica Soderdahl, a federal public defender based in Greenville. She did not respond to requests for comment.

The evidence against Gilbert included tape-recorded telephone calls between Gilbert, inside prison using a contraband cell phone that had been smuggled in to him, and the FBI undercover agent, who was outside the prison, Holloway said in court.

Other evidence included maps that Gilbert provided — via an inmate who was cooperating with the FBI — to the supposed hit man, Holloway said.

According to the complaint in the case, in one phone call, Gilbert says, “You know where to find him, right? You know where to smoke him out, right?”

The undercover agent replies, “Oh yeah it’s a done deal man.”

Gilbert was being held at the Edgefield Federal Correctional Institution, a medium security facility with 1,441 inmates, in Edgefield County. But since his arrest last fall, he has been transferred to a detention center at an undisclosed location where he is being held in high security conditions.

Under the plea agreement, Gilbert will have to give up his ownership of land in Kentucky he was planning to have sold to help finance his hit man murders. He is required to transfer ownership to his son, the plea agreement said.

This is the fifth South Carolina case in recent years where the FBI has played a major role in uncovering an alleged murder for hire plot.

▪ In 2019, a federal jury found S.C. prison inmate Michael Young guilty of paying a man on the internet — who was actually an undercover FBI agent — to send a bomb through the mail so a friend of Young’s could use it to kill Young’s ex-wife. Young was sentenced to 43 years in prison.

▪ Also in 2019, a federal judge gave a Greenwood County white man, Brandon Lecroy, 10 years in prison for trying to hire a Ku Klux Klan member — who was an undercover FBI agent — to kill his black neighbor with whom he was quarreling.

▪ Also in 2019, a federal judge gave Upstate drug trafficker Detric McGowan 35 years in prison for drug offenses and for plotting to hire someone to kill the prosecutor and a key witness in his case. The FBI recorded conversations that McGowan had with an informant in the case, conversations that proved to be crucial evidence.

▪ In 2018, Jerry Oliver, a Lexington County member of the Hells Angels, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for trying to hire a pal to kill his ex-wife for her 401(k) money. Unknown to Oliver, the FBI hooked up his pal with a hidden audio and video recording device to gather the evidence that would cause Oliver to plead guilty.

Peter McCoy, U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, said his office “will continue to hold accountable those who seek violent retribution against law enforcement officers and those who assist the government.”

This story will be updated.

This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 1:24 PM.