Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Strip Club Owner Tried|to Kill Mayor, Feds Say

FORT WORTH (CN) - The owner of an Arlington strip club is charged with trying to hire Mexican hitmen to murder the city's mayor and a Dallas attorney who tried to stop him from re-opening the club, federal prosecutors said.

For more entertainment news, click here to check out Courthouse News' Entertainment Law Digest.

Ryan Walker Grant, of Kennedale, was charged this week with murder for hire and unlawful transfer of a firearm. He has been in federal custody since he was arrested April 9.

Grant is the co-owner of Flashdance, a strip club within 2 miles of Arlington's popular entertainment district that includes Cowboys Stadium, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Six Flags of Texas and the Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park.

Prosecutors say that after the city and the Texas Attorney General's Office filed a nuisance complaint that resulted in closure of his business, Grant tried to hire hitmen to kill Mayor Robert Cluck and Dallas attorney Tom Brandt, who represented the city in cases against sexually oriented businesses.

"On April 3, 2012, Grant handed the intermediary, who was actually a confidential informant, photographs and contact information of the two individuals that he wanted killed," prosecutors said in a statement.

"Grant offered to pay $10,000 per murder victim, for a total of $20,000, upon completion of the murders. During the next few days, Grant and the intermediary spoke via cell phones, and during those conversations Grant directed the intermediary to not proceed with the murders until they could meet to discuss the matter further. On April 9, 2012, the intermediary and Grant met at Grant's residence, where Grant confirmed that he wanted Mayor Cluck killed. The intermediary left Grant's residence and Grant was arrested shortly thereafter. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Grant's residence at that time and seized 22 firearms and nearly $150,000 in cash."

On the second charge, prosecutors say Grant transferred a semi-automatic rifle to a person that he knew had been convicted of a crime punishable by at least one year in prison.

If convicted, Grant faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

Follow @davejourno
Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...