Crime: Inmate Charged in Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Federal Judge

U.S. Attorney’s Office 
Southern District of Texas

FORT WORTH, TX—Phillip Monroe Ballard, 71, has been charged with murder for hire, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson of the Southern District of Texas announced today.

The indictment, returned just a short time ago, alleges Ballard solicited the murder for hire of a U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of Texas.

Ballard, currently in federal custody on unrelated charges in the Northern District of Texas, will remain in custody pending further criminal proceedings in this case. He is expected to appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Fort Worth in the near future.

If convicted, Ballard faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark McIntyre and Craig Feazel are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.