3 KKK members face judge in prison murder plot

Florida correctional officers are accused of plotting to kill black inmate

LAKE CITY, Fla. – Two current and one former prison employee who all belonged to the Ku Klux Klan planned to kill a black inmate as he was released in retaliation for a fight. One of those KKK members made his first appearance in front of a judge Saturday.

The three men -- Thomas Jordan Driver, 25, David Elliot Moran, 47, and 42-year-old Charles Thomas Newcomb -- each were arrested Thursday on one state count of conspiracy to commit murder, according to a statement from Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office.

Charles Newcomb was transferred from the Alachua County Jail to the Columbia County Jail.

Driver and Moran are current correctional officers of the Department of Corrections at the Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler. Newcomb was a corrections officer trainee who was dismissed in January 2013 for failure to meet minimum requirements.

Driver and Moran had their first appearance with a judge Friday.

The inmate is a Putnam County man.

Investigators said that late last year Driver handed a picture of the inmate, who was at that time out on supervised released, to an FBI informant who had infiltrated the Traditional American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Driver told the informant he had a fight with the inmate and both he and Moran wanted the former inmate "6 feet under."

Over the next few months, the FBI said its informant met with all three men, discussing plans to kill the man. One alleged plan involved shooting him during a ride to Palatka; another plan was to inject him with insulin and make it look like he died in a fishing accident.

News4Jax spoke with Bondi.

"I'll tell you what we will not tolerate or will we ever remain silent over the violence of hatred embedded in prejudice in this country," said Bondi.

Bondi says the plot grew out of a fight one of them had with the inmate.

"The inmate was released from prison. Later they later cased the inmate's home in an attempt to murder him by injecting him with insulin," said Bondi.

The FBI started working on this case in November 2014. They staged a homicide scene where they took photos of the former inmate, making it appear that he had been murdered.

"Photographs were shown to each of the men. They expressed happiness. They shook the source's hand and the source even went to the point of asking is this what you wanted," said Nick Cox, state prosecutor.

We also spoke with the former inmate's attorney about the case after finding out about the threat on the former inmate's life, the FBI took him into protective custody while they infiltrated the Klan and worked the case.

"There is still a lot of work that has to be done in society as it relates to race relations and hate crimes," said Terrill Hill, attorney for the former inmate.

The former inmate is no longer in protective custody, but is being supervised.

The wide-ranging investigation included the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

The FBI's office in Jacksonville said it would not comment on an open investigation.

Driver and Moran were arrested in Union County and Newcomb in Alachua County. The case will be prosecuted in Columbia County.

All three suspects are facing 30 years in a Florida state prison and they are all charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.