Brookline man charged in interstate murder-for-hire plot of marijuana grower
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Pittsburgh charged a Brookline man with planning a murder-for-hire plot of his cousin's wife with whom he once shared a marijuana-growing operation in Northern California.
Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song announced the charges Friday.
Brad Lanese, 52, was arrested on federal charges and charged with one count of using interstate commerce facilities with the intent to commit a murder for hire.
Lanese appeared Thursday in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly, who will hear the government's case on Dec. 12 to detain Lanese pending trial.
According to the criminal complaint, Lanese and two associates listed as Lanese's cousin “C.B.” and his cousin's wife, “L.D,” operated a large outdoor marijuana-growing operation in Humboldt County, Northern California. They had 1,000 plants at a time, harvesting about 360 pounds of marijuana, according to the case's affidavit.
About four years ago, according to the affidavit, Lanese and L.D. had issues and Lanese was asked to leave the property, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
In a tape-recorded conversation, Lanese complained about the “controlling” nature of L.D. and women in general and how she controlled his cousin.
C.B. gave Lanese $29,000 to leave, according to the affidavit.
After Lanese spent the money and “large amounts of other cash profits” from the growing operation, he became disgruntled that C.B. and L.D. were still earning money without him, according to prosecutors.
They say that Lanese blamed L.D. for his situation and developed a plan to rob the grow operation.
Back in Pittsburgh, Lanese contacted someone who, unknown to him, was a confidential source for the Drug Enforcement Agency and asked him to travel with Lanese to Northern California on Oct. 31 to rob C.B. and L.D. of their marijuana profits.
The confidential source arranged and made a marijuana buy from the growing operation. Then Lanese shipped about 6 pounds of marijuana from California to Pittsburgh.
The package was intercepted by postal inspectors.
While in California, Lanese and the confidential source met with “Deeds,” an undercover DEA agent to provide guns and logistical support for the robbery.
Lanese told Deeds that he no longer wanted to rob C.B. but wanted Deeds to murder his wife, L.D. Lanese's plan was for Deeds to pretend that his truck was broken down by the marijuana fields where she allegedly used drugs in the evenings, according to the affidavit.
Lanese suggested that he first hit her with a stun gun, inject her with a fatal dose of a heroin/fentanyl mix, and push her body and car over the cliffs into the Pacific Ocean, according to court documents.
Once the woman was dead, Lanese would return to the marijuana grow operation and pay Deeds for the murder, according to the affidavit.
On Nov. 14, back in Pittsburgh, Lanese confirmed to Deeds that he wanted L.D. murdered and agreed to pay $30,000 for the job.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Lanni is prosecuting this case.
Conducting the investigations were: The Pittsburgh and Santa Rosa, Calif., divisions of the Drug Enforcement Agency; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Pittsburgh police.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California is assisting in the prosecution.
Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.
