Lexington County Hells Angel Pleads Guilty to Murder for Hire of Ex-Wife

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Jerry Oliver, age 52, of Lexington County, South Carolina, has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Columbia, to Murder for Hire, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1958.  United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten, of Columbia, accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that the defendant was a member of the Hells Angels and it was through this membership that the defendant met a person who was a FBI informant. The informant was working as a driver at the defendant’s place of work. The informant was charged with DUI and worried that he would lose his job as a driver, so the informant approached Oliver for help. Oliver recommended an attorney who Oliver knew and Oliver offered to cover the cost of the attorney if the informant would kill Oliver’s ex-wife. Oliver was involved in a contested family court proceeding where a hearing was scheduled regarding Oliver’s failure to comply with the divorce decree with his ex-wife. Oliver stated that the murder needed to occur before Oliver’s next family court appearance. The informant contacted the FBI who provided recording materials to the informant to record the interactions with Oliver. Numerous recordings of in-person and over the phone discussions of killing the ex-wife were captured. The informant told Oliver numerous times that he was a felon and the two discussed how to make the killing look like a robbery gone bad.

On September 29, the informant again told Oliver that he was a felon and needed help getting a firearm to do the murder. Oliver stated he would put a Glock in a truck on Oliver's property. The informant contacted Oliver who confirmed the weapon was in place for the informant to retrieve. The informant recorded his retrieval of a loaded Glock. The informant and Oliver discussed locating pictures of the ex-wife on Facebook, a recording of Oliver accessing the ex-wife's Facebook was captured – when Oliver told the informant to monitor the ex-wife’s location using Facebook.

Mrs. Drake stated the maximum penalty for Murder for Hire is imprisonment for 10 years and/or a fine of $250,000, the defendant agreed to a negotiated maximum 10-year sentence.

The case was investigated by agents of the FBI.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jim May and Jay Richardson of the Columbia office are prosecuting the case.

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