Federal prosecutors and the attorney for the owner of an Arlington strip club who is accused of targeting Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck with a murder-for-hire plot have agreed to push back the deadline for an indictment.
According to court filings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Wolfe and J. Warren St. John, who represents Flashdancer Cabaret owner Ryan Walker Grant, agreed to extend the deadline to indict to July 19. The filings say that the two sides are conducting discovery as well as negotiations that could lead to a plea bargain.
Under the Speedy Trial Act, federal indictments must be filed within 30 days of the arrest. Federal agents detained Grant on April 9, meaning today would have been the deadline.
Grant is accused of trying to hire men from Mexico through an intermediary to kill Cluck and Dallas attorney Tom Brandt, who represents Arlington in cases involving sexually oriented businesses. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cureton ordered Grant held without bail on April 20.
St. John declined to comment through his office. Wolfe did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
-Patrick M. Walker
I hope they prosecute for the maximum and not him off easy with a reduced plea bargain. This man deserves to be put away for life. In fact, I thought putting out a hit on someone could get you the death penalty.
Posted by: Doug | May 09, 2012 at 05:00 PM
Please no plea!! What are the feds thinking?? What evidence could he possibly give up to get a reduced sentence,besides the fact that men like strippers?? WTH, just throw out the entire judicial sentence and make it a free-for-all. It's almost there anyway.
Posted by: Cleve | May 10, 2012 at 03:36 PM
He had all intentions of killing two people. Plea bargain? That is just crazy. He deserves to be in jail and anyone who thinks otherwise is deplorable.
Posted by: Circle K | May 14, 2012 at 04:08 PM