FBI: Md. Felon Involved In Plot To Kill Lawyer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Using code words, a convicted felon in Maryland and a hit man convicted in Louisiana arranged to kill the hit man's former lawyer, according to the FBI.
The plot never materialized because the hit man, Donald "Big" Sylvester, serving life in prison, told authorities about the plan and cooperated in a sting to arrest Kenneth Lee before he could carry it out, according to a sworn statement from FBI agent William C. Williams.
Williams' statement did not say why Sylvester decided to tell authorities about the alleged plot.
Lee was arrested last week. He had been released Sept. 25 from the federal prison in Coleman, Florida, where both men were held when the hit was planned, authorities said.
In October, Sylvester told prison workers that Lee had asked him whether he wanted anyone killed for testifying against him, the FBI agent wrote. He also drafted a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Westling identifying the target as defense attorney Robert Jenkins, who represented Sylvester when he was first arrested in Louisiana.
In the code described by Williams, Sylvester told Lee that an uncle of his was in "fitness training" and had clients who needed a trainer.
Williams said an undercover agent in New Orleans posed as the uncle, asking Lee by phone if he preferred 9-, 40- or 45-pound weights -- code for 9, 40 or 45-mm handguns.
"Lee stated that he could use anything," Williams wrote.
Lee was arrested Dec. 23 in Baltimore after picking up a down payment the agent had mailed him, according to a statement from the FBI in Maryland.
Neither the public defenders who represented Lee in Maryland nor Jenkins immediately responded to requests for comment by The Associated Press.
Jenkins, whose clients have included former Mayor Ray Nagin, former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's sister, Brenda Jefferson, represented Sylvester for less than two months after his arrest in spring 2003.
Sylvester was convicted in 2008 of 10 crimes that included killing Demetra Norse to keep her from testifying in a federal drug case. He was given concurrent life sentences on seven of those counts and an additional 60 years on the other three.
Sylvester confessed, then insisted on going to trial, Jenkins told Nola.com The Times-Picayune. "Once it unraveled, he realized the mistake that he made," Jenkins said.
Lee pleaded guilty in 2009 to possessing a firearm after a felony conviction and was sentenced to 15 years as an armed career criminal. However, his sentence was reduced in September to time served plus two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appeals courts ruled that burglary could not be counted as one of the three violent or drug felonies needed to qualify for such a sentence.
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