LAREDO, TEXAS -- Two alleged soldiers from Colorado Springs and four other men were arrested over the weekend in connection with a murder-for-hire plot and drug selling operation.
The two men, 29-year-old Kevin Corley and 28-year-old Samuel Walker, were arrested in Laredo, Texas Saturday after a 14-month undercover operation.
Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office said 20-year-old Marcus Mickle, a South Carolina man, began talking with undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents whom he thought were members of the Lot Zetas Cartel. He said he had a friend (Corley) who could provide weapons in exchange for marijuana. Corley confirmed, telling the undercover agents he could provide them with tactical training and purchase guns for them under his name.
Corley continued to communicate with the agents over the next several months, telling them that as an active duty soldier, he could provide the cartel training and access to information and equipment. Officials said he mailed the agents an Army tactics book.
Corley went to Laredo on Jan. 7 of this year to meet with the agents, who asked him if he could provide a murder-for-hire team to raid a ranch where 20 kilograms of stolen cocaine were being kept by a rival cartel. Corley said he and another soldier could do it for $50,000 and five kilograms of cocaine, and he told agents he would refund the money if any of the victims on the ranch survived.
Corley met with an undercover agent in Colorado Springs March 5 to discuss the killing and gave the agent multiple rifles, vests and other equipment in exchange for cash. He even said he would carve a sign into the victim's chest and dismember the body.
On Saturday, the date of the planned murder, Corley, Walker and a Denver man who was also one of the six arrested, went to Laredo to meet with undercover agents and discuss logistics of the plan. The three were arrested then, and their military equipment was seized. Officials said a fourth suspect was shot and killed.
Charges against the men include conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking or violent crime and conspiracy and possession with the intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. The charges vary in years served if convicted, but they range from 10 years to life, as well as potential hefty fines.
Corley and Walker made their first appearances in federal court Monday.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM