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Mulberry Man Charged With Trying To Have IRS Officer Killed

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 31, 2008

Randy Nowak was having troubles with the IRS and wanted the revenue officer who was on his tail "deleted," authorities say.

The 48-year-old Polk County construction company owner told an informant he was willing to pay $75,000 for the job because he stood to lose $4 million he had hidden in a Jamaican bank account, according to a federal complaint. The IRS says he also owed $300,000 in personal income tax obligations and four years in corporate tax returns.

The revenue officer, he complained, "has absolutely no personality at all. She's not demeaning, she's not degrading. She's like a… machine, methodical, going down the line."

The IRS, he griped, was "out of control."

That conversation and a series of meetings were secretly recorded by federal agents after the informant contacted law enforcement, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

Nowak mistakenly thought the informant was a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, according to the complaint, because he used to ride with some members. Someone, he said, "ratted" him out to the IRS.

Nowak, who lives in Mulberry, was arrested today and charged with the attempted murder of an Internal Revenue Service officer. Authorities say he also asked an undercover agent if he could blow up the IRS office in Lakeland.

If convicted, the owner of RJ Nowak Enterprises Inc. in Polk County faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Wearing a Harley Davidson t-shirt, Nowak appeared briefly in federal court this afternoon , and asked a magistrate to postpone a hearing until Friday to give his lawyer time to appear.

After the court session, Nowak turned to his wife, who was sitting in the courtroom spectator section, and gave her instructions on where to find personal documents. Then he told her to tell people that someone "fabricated the whole thing. I don't know if it was cancer or money trouble or what. He fried my ass."

According to the complaint, this is what happened:

Nowak told the informant someone had agreed to kill the officer for $75,000, but that was "too steep." The informant said he knew someone named "Reaper" who would do it for $20,000.

"Is the less I know the better or what?" Nowak asked.

"Yes," the informant replied.

"Because there's nothing tying me to it and there's nothing tying me to him, nothing tying him to me, but it's pretty much a guaranteed thing," Nowak said. "Once you start it, you can't stop it."

Nowak asked if the hit man was a member of the Outlaws. The informant said yes, and Nowak said, "They are pretty thorough … They are pretty loyal to one another."

After a series of telephone calls, Nowak called the undercover agent who was posing as Reaper and told him he wanted to meet at the barbecue restaurant behind the Harley Davidson shop in Brandon. When the two met around 11:20 a.m. July 23, the restaurant was closed, so they sat down at a picnic table as federal agents recorded their meeting.

Nowak identified the IRS officer as Christine Brandt, writing her name and the address of her workplace on a piece of paper. He said he would use his construction business computer database to find her home address.

Nowak agreed to pay $10,000 up front. The Reaper said he would visit the IRS workplace and take pictures of the revenue officer to confirm her identity.

The next day, Nowak called and gave the agent Brandt's home address.

Nowak and the Reaper met again on July 29 in the Lakeland Home Depot parking lot, according to the complaint. The Reaper handed Nowak two pictures, one depicting Brandt, and the other a similar-looking co-worker. Nowak pointed out Brandt and handed the Reaper an envelope containing $10,000 in cash.

The Reaper told him the job would be done by the end of the week.

"So it's not like she's going to be found anytime soon?" Nowak asked.

"She and her vehicle will be gone," the Reaper responded. He said he would remove a few pieces of her body, burn the body in the car and "you will have no problems."

"OK," that's fine," Nowak said. "That's perfect.

He had another request.

"How much would it cost me to have that building severely damaged?"

"The IRS building?"

"Yes," Nowak said. "Or do you not want to get into that? That's federal."

That, the Reaper said, would cost "a big chunk."

The Reaper added later, "Anything's doable, brother."

Then the agent suggested he should take care of "job number one first" and then they could talk about "job two."

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