Search warrants revealed by authorities on Wednesday, and an arrest warrant issued earlier this year for a man from New York City alleges that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Fugitive Apprehension Search Team discovered a murder-for-hire scheme.
According to court records, Gregory Thomas Warren, 38, of Bronx, NYC, conspired with others to kill Elijah Jones, 26, of South Grant Street, Wilkes-Barre, as retaliation for a shooting that occurred several years ago at a business on South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre.
Warren is charged with two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit criminal homicide in an arrest warrant filed on January 18, but he has not been captured yet.
The alleged plot was uncovered when the Fugitive Apprehension Search Team, along with Wilkes-Barre police and the U.S. Marshals, apprehended a state parolee wanted for parole violations in Plymouth in April 2023.
The state parolee, who is currently incarcerated and facing firearm offenses in Luzerne County, is identified in search warrants as a cooperating witness in Warren's arrest warrant.
During an interview at the Plymouth Police Department, the state parolee disclosed a murder-for-hire plot targeting Jones, according to court records.
Court records state that the state parolee alleged the owner of the South Main Street business wanted Jones killed in retaliation for shooting up his business about two years ago.
Another individual, who has not been charged but was named in search warrants, initially offered $10,000 to kill Jones, but later reduced the amount to $5,000, according to court records.
A 9mm handgun was provided to the hit-man, concealed in a cat toy tower at a Plymouth residence for a period before being returned in a plastic shopping bag to an uncharged co-conspirator at a gasoline service station on East Main Street, Plymouth.
The alleged hit-man was transported and shown where Jones lives, involving a change of vehicles to avoid detection.
Search warrants for cellular phone records that were sealed by a Luzerne County judge on Jan. 25 were revealed at the request of the Times Leader after the 60-day seal expired.
