A chilling murder-for-hire plot has been foiled in Matthews, North Carolina, as authorities announced the arrest of 26-year-old Bryant Riyanto Budi on Friday, June 1, 2018.
According to allegations in the filed complaint, Budi contacted an undercover HSI agent located in Buffalo, New York via the internet to conduct the murder-for-hire plot in April and May 2018. The complaint alleges that Budi used online usernames, encrypted messaging platforms, and encrypted email services to disguise his true identity from the undercover agent.
During the course of communications between Budi and the undercover agent, Budi hired the agent to murder an individual who resides in the Charlotte area, identified in the complaint as "C.S." The complaint further alleges that Budi also contacted an FBI online covert employee via the internet to purchase a lethal dose of a radioactive substance in April and May 2018.
Budi expressed his intent to use the radioactive substance to kill an unnamed individual and instructed the FBI online covert employee to ship the substance to an address in Charlotte. On May 22, 2018, the undercover agent advised Budi that a package containing the radioactive substance was shipped, but it was actually an inert substitute for the radioactive material.
On May 31, 2018, the package containing the inert substance was delivered to an address in Charlotte as instructed by Budi. On June 1, 2018, at approximately 11:15 p.m., Budi was arrested by law enforcement.
Budi is charged with one count of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years. The charges against Budi are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina praised the outstanding work of HSI in Buffalo, New York, and Charlotte, the FBI in Charlotte and supporting FBI field offices, the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, and the National Security Division.
Budi is currently held without bond and is scheduled to appear in federal court again on a later date. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Arrowood of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, assisted by Trial Attorney Bridget Behling, of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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