Air National Guardsman pleads guilty to applying for hit man job on parody website

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TCN) — An Air National Guardsman faces up to 10 years in federal prison for trying to apply for a job as a hit man on a fake website.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced Sept. 25 that 23-year-old Josiah Ernesto Garcia pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. He is set to be sentenced on Feb. 7. Garcia was initially charged in April 2023.

According to federal prosecutors, in February 2023, Garcia began looking for contract mercenary jobs because he needed money to help his family. He reportedly came upon www.rentahitman.com, which was created in 2005 to advertise a cybersecurity startup company, but it failed and kept receiving questions about murder-for-hire services. The U.S. Attorney’s office said the website’s administrator changed the website to a parody forum with fake testimonials from customers who claimed to have used hit man services. Customers could also allegedly request services, and the website offered an option to apply to work as a hit man.

Federal prosecutors said Garcia inquired about employment as a hired killer and said he had “military experience and rifle expertise.” Garcia reportedly submitted identification documents along with a résumé “indicating he was an expert marksman and had been employed in the Air National Guard since July 2021.”

Garcia reportedly said on his résumé  that he was nicknamed “‘Reaper,’ which was earned from military experience and marksmanship.” According to federal prosecutors, Garcia continued to contact the website administrator and said he wanted to work immediately.  

An undercover FBI agent reportedly spoke with Garcia by phone, and they met at a park in Hendersonville to discuss the position. Garcia allegedly agreed to kill an individual for $5,000. The conversations were recorded.

During their in-person meeting, federal prosecutors said the agent gave Garcia a “target packet of a fictional individual, which included photographs and other information about the individual to be killed, and a down payment of $2,500.” Garcia reportedly asked if he needed to give the agent a photo of the dead victim’s body after the job. FBI agents subsequently arrested Garcia, searched his home, and located an AR-style rifle.

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