Murder plot thwarted with arrest of state parolee

Mar. 27—PLYMOUTH — Search warrants unsealed Wednesday and an arrest warrant issued earlier this year for a New York City man alleges agents with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Fugitive Apprehension Search Team uncovered a murder-for hire plot.

Gregory Thomas Warren, 38, of Bronx, NYC, conspired with others in the plan to kill Elijah Jones, 26, of South Grant Street, Wilkes-Barre, in retaliation of a shooting several years ago at a business on South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, according to court records.

An arrest warrant filed Jan. 18 charges Warren with two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit criminal homicide. Warren has not been apprehended.

The alleged plot was learned when a state parolee wanted on parole violations was apprehended in Plymouth by the Fugitive Apprehension Search Team with the PA Department of Corrections, Wilkes-Barre police and the U.S. Marshals in April 2023.

The state parolee is identified in search warrants but is listed as a cooperating witness in the arrest warrant for Warren. The state parolee is currently jailed at a state correctional facility and facing firearm offenses in Luzerne County.

When the state parolee was captured, during an interview at the Plymouth Police Department, he outlined a murder-for hire plot that targeted Jones, according to court records.

Court records say the state parolee claimed the owner of the South Main Street business wanted Jones killed as retaliation for Jones shooting up his business about two years ago.

Another person who has not been charged but named in search warrants initially offered $10,000 to kill Jones but lowered the price to $5,000, court records say.

A 9mm handgun was given to the hitman, which was hidden for a time in a cat toy tower inside a Plymouth residence before it was returned in a plastic shopping bag to one of the uncharged conspirators at a gasoline service station on East Main Street, Plymouth.

The alleged hitman was given a ride and was shown where Jones resides that also involved a change of vehicles to avoid detection.

Search warrants that were sealed by a Luzerne County judge on Jan. 25 were unsealed at the request of the Times Leader after the 60-day seal expired. The search warrants were for cellular phone records.

Reach Ed Lewis at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TLEdLewis