Texas club owner gets 10 years in failed plot (against Arlington mayor)
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The owner of an Arlington topless club under threat of being shut down was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Tuesday for a failed murder-for-hire plot against the North Texas city's mayor and an attorney.
Ryan Walker Grant, 35, also was fined $17,500 and will be on three years of supervised release after his prison term, according to the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means in Fort Worth. The federal court system does not have parole.
Grant pleaded guilty in September to a murder-for-hire charge stemming from a failed 2012 plot to hire a hit man to kill Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and lawyer Tom Brandt, who was representing the city against the club owner. Grant also was charged with unlawfully transferring a firearm, but prosecutors dropped that charge Tuesday as part of the plea deal.
Grant's club, Flashdancer Cabaret, was one of Arlington's most visible adult businesses, and authorities linked it to drugs, prostitution, assaults and other crimes. The city sought to permanently shut it down by revoking its license, although Grant agreed to close the club for a year in early January 2012. City officials were cracking down on such enterprises as the city sought to bolster its reputation as a tourist destination. Arlington is home to the Dallas Cowboys stadium, the Texas Rangers ballpark and Six Flags Over Texas.
More at http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Texas-club-owner-gets-10-years-in-failed-plot-4213759.php .