Airman confesses to trying to hire a hitman on RentAHitman.com

An Air National Guardsman from Toledo, Josiah Ernesto Garcia, was caught in a murder-for-hire sting operation after submitting his resume to a fake website, www.rentahitman.com. The website was actually a joke, set up by the FBI to trap potential hitmen. Garcia expressed his willingness to kill people and was offered a job interview, leading to an undercover meeting with an FBI agent who paid him $2,500 to kill a nonexistent target. He was then arrested and pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, facing up to 10 years in federal prison. Garcia, who claimed to be known as the “Reaper” and boasted about his military experience and rifle expertise, believed he was pursuing legitimate contract mercenary jobs online. The website, originally created in 2005 for a cyber security startup, received numerous inquiries about murder-for-hire services, prompting the site to be converted into a parody site featuring false testimonials and a form to request hitman services. Other individuals, including a New Mexico man and a Miami woman, have been caught using similar hitman websites for nefarious purposes. The FBI administrator of www.rentahitman.com continues to receive threats and expose dangerous individuals seeking to hire hitmen. Hitman websites have been instrumental in foiling multiple murder-for-hire plots in recent years.

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