Judge: No Bail For Mulberry Man In IRS Officer Hit Case

Randy James Nowak parked his Ford Excursion at a Home Depot in Lakeland and greeted a man he knew only as Reaper.

On a video shown in federal court today, Nowak flipped through photographs Reaper provided to identify an Internal Revenue Service officer he found problematic. Then he handed Reaper, an undercover investigator, a fat white envelope that federal prosecutors said contained $10,000.

He wanted the IRS officer dead, promising another $10,000 when the deed was done, prosecutors said.

"So, it's not like she's going to be found anytime soon?" Nowak asked the undercover agent on the video.

The agent promised that the revenue officer and her car would disappear. "OK, that's cool," Nowak said on the video.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III ordered Nowak to remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service today, citing potential danger to the revenue officer and a confidential informant who helped investigators.

The revenue officer and her family have been in hiding since June 24 for their safety, at the government's expense, prosecutors said.

Nowak, 48, of Mulberry is the owner of R.J. Nowak Enterprises Inc., a Polk County construction company. The company has been registered with the state since 2003.

Prosecutors say Nowak wanted to hire a hit man to kill the revenue agent because he owed about $300,000 in personal income tax obligations. He also had four years' worth of outstanding corporate tax returns and stood to lose a rumored $4 million hidden in an offshore bank account, prosecutors said.

Public records show this is not the first time Nowak has had financial troubles. In 2002, Nowak was sentenced to one day in jail in Orange County after being convicted of a felony charge for obtaining property with a worthless check, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection that same year, with claimants seeking $345,262, federal court records show. That case was closed in 2005, with $4,611 ordered to be disbursed, records show.

In the current case, an informant alerted authorities to the murder-for-hire plan after Nowak confided he had tried to hire someone to kill the revenue officer for $75,000 but found that "too steep," a federal complaint states. Working with investigators, the informant provided Reaper as a substitute who was willing to work for $20,000, the complaint states.

Robert Courtenay, an agent for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, testified in court today that the informant was a longtime friend of Nowak whom Nowak referred to on a recorded conversation as being like a brother to him. The informant has not been used by law enforcement previously, was not paid, and was not charged or under investigation in another matter, Courtenay said.

Nowak's attorney, Bill Sites of Lakeland, asked Courtenay whether he was aware that the informant had borrowed money from Nowak, sold Nowak stolen motorcycles or has his own debt problems. Courtenay answered no to all questions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Riedel played a three-minute video recorded by Reaper on July 29, when he met with Nowak at the Home Depot. At that meeting, Nowak also asked Reaper whether he could damage the IRS building in Lakeland by pouring an explosive substance in the electrical box after-hours, the video shows.

"Anything's doable, brother," Reaper said on the video.

"I want to cover my bases. I want it to go away," Nowak said on the video.

Nowak was arrested July 31, after meeting the fake hit man at Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill in Lakeland. The fake hit man told Nowak the killing was done, and Nowak agreed to pay him the remaining $10,000, prosecutors said.

Investigators arrested Nowak at that meeting and found the money in a McDonald's bag in his vehicle, prosecutors said.