On Jan. 14, in cooperation with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, the FBI New Orleans Division Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Jeffery A. Howard in Pearl River, Louisiana on a charge of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, a FBI release states.
According to an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, on June 19, 2015, FBI New Orleans received information that Howard was involved in the trafficking of methamphetamine and is a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacy prison gang, whose members continue their involvement in criminal activity after leaving prison.
New Orleans FBI conducted a series of controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Howard, which were all conducted at his residence in Nicholson, the affidavit states.
In Nov. 2015, Howard stated to a confidential human source that if the individual needed someone to “Hit a lick on someone, that he was the man for the right price,” the affidavit states.
The confidential informant informed the New Orleans FBI that Howard meant he would take payment to commit a murder, the affidavit states.
After a consultation with United States Attorney’s Office, a story was devised and provided to Howard stating that the undercover officer’s sister has been assaulted and robbed by an African American drug dealer in Pearl River, Louisiana, and Howard agreed to his previous offer made to the confidential informant, the affidavit states.
Through a series of recorded meetings between Howard, the undercover officer and informant, Howard constructed a scenario where the confidential informant would bring the victim to the Pearl River turnaround and Howard would “take him out,” the affidavit states.
On, Jan. 7, Howard accepted $2,500 as a down payment for the murder and the second payment was to be paid after the murder, the affidavit states. That same day, Howard rode with the informant to the proposed murder location, where Howard stated he was going to purchase a cell phone solely to communicate with the confidential informant about the murder-for-hire scheme, which was to take place on Jan. 14, the affidavit states.
Howard was arrested without incident and later remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service. The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana, the FBI release states.