An Alabama plumber’s alleged plan to hire a hit man was foiled when the person he offered tens of thousands of dollars to kill his estranged wife and six adult children turned out to be an employee with the FBI.
Mohammad A.H. Mohammad, 63, is charged with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, according to a criminal complaint.
Mohammad’s alleged hiring of a supposed hit man last month was the culmination of a falling out with his family over the previous few years and amid divorce proceedings between him and his wife, according to an affidavit unsealed this week. It also came after a series of arsons and other incidents involving him attaching GPS devices to his family members’ vehicles, court documents said.
His wife had filed for and was granted a protection order prohibiting him from contacting her. Mohammad was arrested for stalking in April 2022 when he violated the protective order.
At a court hearing for his stalking charge, the court heard audio from a cooperating witness who warned Mohammad, “If you hurt them (Mohammad’s family), you’ll go to hell forever.”
“No, God will reward me,” Mohammad allegedly replied.
His wife was afraid of him.
In a “Petition for Protection from Abuse,” she said he told her he “will come after [her].”
“[Mohammad] has hurt me and my kids & used weapons against us [ … Mohammad] said he wanted to shoot my daughter between the eyes,” she wrote.
In another document, she described how Mohammad had threatened “to lock us in the basement and kill us.”
“He always threatens me and my children with violence, she wrote in court documents. “He has put his hands on my kids and sent them to the emergency room. He has put a gun & knife against my kids heads and throats. He has shot guns at us.”
On Feb. 26, 2024, Mohammad was released on bond.
By Aug. 11, 2024, Mohammad had repeatedly asked a cooperating witness, identified in court documents as “CW1” to find a person to “take care of” his family members.
Mohammad, a plumber who owns American Plumbing Service, LLC., in Homewood, Alabama, south of Birmingham, allegedly told an informant that he felt his pride and self-dignity had been destroyed and that his family had set him up to be arrested and removed from his family home.
“Mohammad told CW1 he was willing to ‘die for self-dignity’ and ‘die for pride,’ and requested CW1 to find Mohammad someone who was willing to ‘take care of’ his family for him,” court documents said.
After a series of discussions in early September, the witness arranged a meeting between Mohammad and an FBI undercover employee, identified in court documents as “FBI UCE,” to finalize the alleged hits.
At that meeting last Saturday, Mohammad allegedly showed the FBI employee cellphone photos of burned cars and burned structures belonging to his family members and photos of his family members. He described the vehicles they drove, and gave the FBI employee their address — even driving the agent past his wife’s and daughter’s houses, court documents said.
Mohammad said he’d pay $20,000 for the hit for his wife and $5,000 for each of his children, saying at one point, “Listen to me brother. This[sic] are seven people.”
“Seven?” FBI UCE asked.
“Six kids, and the mom,” Mohammad allegedly replied. “You pick and choose who you gunna take out, and get paid.”
“You want to start with the big whore?” Mohammad asked at one point, referring to his wife. “I don’t mind.”
The FBI UCE asked for at least $2,000 to “start all this s—.”
“I’m going, f—ing, I gotta knock down seven people,” FBI UCE said, according to court documents.
“Start with one at least! One! Start with one,” Mohammad allegedly said.
“Okay! I’ll start with one,” FBI UCE said.
“Start with one,” Mohammad allegedly added. “Take your time. Second. Third. Fourth. Five. I don’t give f—. Just, start with one.”
Mohammad provided the FBI UCE with $550 as a down payment for the murders, with the balance to be paid upon the deaths of the intended targets, court documents said.
He’s set to appear next in court on Friday.
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