*WARNING*: This story contains graphic content not suitable for all readers.

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – A man accused of attempting to hire an Allen County man to murder his ex-wife and her loved ones now faces a federal charge after the would-be-hitman became an FBI informant and secretly recorded their conversations.

John Gierek, a 35-year-old Illinois resident, is charged in U.S. District Court with a count of “use and cause another to use facility of interstate and foreign commerce, with intent that a murder and murders be committed.”

In several conversations over a 5-month period, Gierek is accused of asking a man to kill his ex-wife, her mother, her grandmother, and her 8-year-old son.

The informant was allegedly indebted to Gierek, thus why he was allegedly chosen to commit the crimes – and as a reward Gierek allegedly told the man he’d forgive a small portion of a debt, and give him four 8-balls of cocaine.

U.S. District Court documents transcribed portions of several recorded phone calls between the informant and Gierek.

It all started in February, when the man told a Wisconsin police department Gierek had allegedly solicited him to murder his ex-wife and her three family members.

The man also told police Gierek asked him to kidnap his ex-wife’s neighbor and kill the neighbor’s husband.

The FBI got involved, and the man explained in court documents he met Gierek through their mutual interest in buying and selling snakes. He also said he was a cocaine user and bought that from Gierek several times over the four or five years they’d known each other.

The man went on to say Gierek “started a downward spiral” in October after he and his ex-wife separated.

That’s when Gierek had started talking to the man about killing the woman’s mother, and his remarks became increasingly serious, the man told the FBI in court documents.

Those remarks turned into an actual plan to kill some of his ex-wife’s family, including a layout of the house where his ex-wife lived with her mother and grandmother.

The man handed over to the FBI a taser, duct tape and pepper spray that Gierek had allegedly given him to carry out the crimes in December 2023.

According to court documents, Gierek offered the man about four 8-balls of cocaine in exchanges – along with the forgiveness of $2,000, a portion of a debt the man owed him.

The FBI gave the man a recording device and in March, he turned over several recordings including a 23-minute phone conversation he’d had with Gierek.

According to court documents, Gierek talked in a portion of the conversation about kidnapping the woman who lived next to his ex-wife, along with that woman’s husband – all to avoid seeing his ex-wife at an upcoming reptile convention.

“Ideally, at this point, I would like to take care of the friend. Ideally before the [expletive] show. Because, then she won’t be here. Because that’s where she would stay,” Gierek said in the recorded conversation, according to court documents.

Little did Gierek know, his ex-wife’s neighbor had moved away from their Illinois home, police discovered.

Gierek went on to tell the man on the phone that with St. Patrick’s Day on that particular weekend, it would be convenient to carry out the kidnappings and murders of his ex-wife and her various loved ones.

“They will be extra f***** up this weekend.”

In that same phone conversation with the informant, Gierek is accused of alluding to planning to rape the woman who used to live next to his ex-wife.

In another recent phone conversation with Gierek that was transcribed in court documents, the informant said he’d need another weapon “in case the zappy zap fails.”

The informant had asked Gierek if he’d been able to get a gun, to which Gierek responded he’d purchased a Glock pistol with an auto-switch to convert it into a fully automatic machine gun.

“I’d be shocked if that failed,” Gierek is accused of saying. In a later conversation, he allegedly backtracked and said he wasn’t sure he could arrange for the firearm to be used in the crimes.

The informant offered to use his own gun, to which Gierek said, “That does not sound fine,” according to court documents.

Officers said in the documents they believed Gierek was worried his close association with the informant would implicate Gierek in the crimes even if it was the informant’s own gun that was used.

Gierek’s wishes to harm his ex and her loved ones were spurred on when he found out in March she had a restraining order against him, according to court documents.

The informant discussed this with Gierek, and according to the recording, put together the final plan.

“So it would be a kidnap snatch-and-grab with her, mom and grandma, possibly kid would be dead, right?” The informant asked Gierek on the phone, according to court documents.

“Correct,” Gierek allegedly confirmed.

According to court documents, the informant had told Gierek he would supposedly travel to Illinois and kidnap Gierek’s ex-wife along with her friend who they thought lived next door, and bring the two women back to Indiana.

The informant told Gierek he would “be reasonable” to the women and have food and drinks for them after the kidnapping. But the final piece of the plan was for Gierek to come to the informant’s home, where the women would be in the basement so Gierek”s ex could watch as he raped her friend before they both were killed.

To cover up the crimes, the informant said on the phone he would plan on leaving a gas leak at Gierek’s ex-wife’s house to cause an explosion.

“Boom, the house goes off… by the time they figure out what happened, the friend and her husband will be taken care of, and I’ll be in [expletive] Indiana,” the informant told Gierek in court documents.

In another recorded conversation, the informant brought up Gierek’s offer to forgive a portion of his debt; when the man said he wanted his “slate wiped clean” or at least half of the debt gone, Gierek allegedly refused and told him he couldn’t forgive more than $2,000, justifying that by reminding the man he would also be rewarded with 8-balls of cocaine.

The informant shared all those recorded conversations with the FBI, and Gierek was booked into the Huntington County Jail Wednesday.

Gierek faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or a combination of both.