A Florida high school teacher was arrested on charges he attempted to hire a hit man to have a fellow teacher murdered. Plant City Police arrested James Pepe on September 27, 2012 after an identified witness alerted them to Pepe’s plan.
Authorities say Pepe, a social studies teacher at Bloomingdale High School attempted to hire a hit man to murder Robert Meredith, a social studies teacher at Strawberry Crest High School. Both schools are in Hillsborough County, Florida. According to reports, both men previously worked at Strawberry High School together. After authorities were alerted to the plan, police contacted the FBI and they set up a trap for Pepe.
According to a report by ABC Action News, a Tampa affiliate, FBI agents reached out to Pepe by phone who stated during one of several taped telephone conversation that he “had an issue that he might need taken care of.” The report states that Pepe was willing to pay $2,000 to have Meredith killed.
It is unclear what motivated Pepe to allegedly solicit a hit man to have Meredith murdered.
Pepe was arrested and charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder. He is in jail without bond.
