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Ryan Walker Grant Update: Owner of topless club gets 10-year sentence in failed plot to kill Texas mayor

Ryan Walker Grant CBS DFW

(CBS/AP) FORT WORTH, Texas - Ryan Walker Grant, the owner of a North Texas topless bar, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and a $17,500 fine for trying to orchestrate a plot to kill a mayor and an attorney.

Grant appeared Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means in Fort Worth.

Grant pleaded not guilty in September 2012 to a murder-for-hire charge stemming from a failed 2012 plot to hire a hit man to kill Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck and lawyer Tom Brandt, who does work for the city.

CBS DFW reports, Grant accepted a plea deal in which federal prosecutors dropped a weapons charge that was a part of the indictment. Grant had originally agreed to a 10-year prison term plus a $250,000 fine.

Grant's club, Flashdancer Cabaret, was one of Arlington's most visible adult businesses. Grant, at the time of the failed plot, was in a dispute with officials who cracked down on such enterprises as the city seeks to bolster its reputation as a tourist destination.

According to CBS DFW, Grant used his cell phone to contact the would-be hit man who was actually a confidential informant. Grant allegedly offered to pay the person $20,000 after the murders were completed. Grant was arrested in April 2012 after meeting with the man who he thought would carry out the hit.

More on Crimesider
April 11, 2012 - Texas man arrested for attempting to pay to have two city officials killed, arrest affidavit states

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