An Air National Guardsman pleaded guilty Wednesday to trying to become a hitman after federal prosecutors said he was fooled by a parody website that marketed itself to prospective killers.
Josiah Ernesto Garcia, 23, of Toledo, Ohio, applied for work at the fictitious murder-for-hire website, rentahitman.com, according to Federal prosecutors in Tennessee.
He now could face up to 10 years behind bars when he is sentenced in February.
Court documents said Garcia was looking up contract mercenary jobs in 2023 to support his family when he found the spoof website.
Rentahitman.com started as a cyber security company in 2005, prosecutors said. The business eventually went under, but the website continued to receive interest from people looking to contract killers.
The filing said the site’s administrator decided to convert the domain into a spoof hitman site, complete with fake testimonials from people who had used the site before, a landing page where people can request a murder and another tab where people can apply to work as a hired gun.
Prosecutors said Garcia submitted an application and even followed up with a resume that touted himself as an expert marksman and a member of the Air National Guard.
Court documents said an undercover FBI agent talked with Garcia about his application on two separate occasions. The agent then met the wannabe killer at a park in Hendersonville, Tennessee, to discuss a fictional target for Garcia to kill.
The agent shared photos and personal information about the fake person with Garcia and also gave the prospective hitman a $2,500 down payment.
Prosecutors said Garcia agreed to carry out the hit and asked if the agent needed photos of the dead body for confirmation. He was then arrested by federal authorities.
Officials said they found an AR-15 during a search of his home.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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