U.S. Department of Justice Office of the United States Attorney Middle District of Tennesse   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   CONTACT: Jim Vines United States Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey Assistant U.S. Attorney (615) 401-6583 Michael Taxay Trial Attorney U.S. Department of Justice (202) 514-9473 Edward Nucci Senior Litigation Counsel U.S. Department of Justice (202) 514-9473 June 13, 2006

Nashville, Tennessee - June 13, 2006 - Jim Vines, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, and My Harrison, Special Agent in Charge, Memphis Division FBI, announced that Parley Drew Hardman, age 50, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was sentenced yesterday to a total of 422 months (over 35 years) incarceration. In the Spring of 2003, Hardman was convicted by a federal jury of soliciting interstate stalking with intent to cause death, solicitation of murder for hire, and conspiracy to commit interstate stalking against his ex-wife, Cherilynn Collins. On September 20, 2005, Hardman was convicted in a second case by a federal jury for plotting to kill Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunny A.M. Koshy, the lead prosecutor in the first case; two key witnesses who had testified against the defendant in that trial; and Cherilyn Collins, the victim and a witness in the first trial.

According to the proof at first trial, the defendant contacted Marvin Droznek a/k/a Marvin Drake to try to kill Hardman's ex-wife, Cherilynn Collins, a dance instructor, in Plymouth, Michigan. Droznek's price for carrying out the murder was too high, so Hardman hired Droznek to have Collins' legs broken so that she could never dance again. Hardman also wanted Droznek to kill Collins' cocker spaniel, Maggie. Droznek then contracted with Joseph Roselli (a.k.a. Joseph Lucas) to carry out the attack in Michigan. Roselli, however, contacted law enforcement officials who were able to prevent the attack from taking place by carrying out a ruse assault which made Hardman believe that Roselli had attacked Collins so severely that a wooden 2' x 4' splintered when Roselli used it to break Collins' knee. After this ruse assault, Hardman asked Roselli and Droznek to assault an ex-girlfriend in Murfreesboro and also tried to hire Droznek to kill country music star Travis Tritt. Hardman was arrested shortly after stating that he wanted Tritt "buried, killed."

According to the proof in the subsequent case, the plot began in October 2003, when Hardman approached another inmate, asking for an introduction to the Gambino crime family to help carry out Hardman's plan to murder Assistant U.S. Attorney Koshy and two witnesses, and to injure Hardman's ex-wife. The inmate, who also had been prosecuted for drug trafficking by AUSA Koshy, told his lawyer of defendant's plans, and the information was passed to the government. On November 7, 2004, Hardman spoke by phone with an FBI undercover agent acting as Mafia hit man about making arrangements for the hits. The agent met with Hardman face to face on November 13, 2003, to discuss the plan further. At the close of the November 13, meeting, Hardman arranged for the undercover agent to meet with Hardman's girlfriend, Brenda L. Lampley. Lampley then paid the undercover agent $600 to reimburse his travel expenses, and provided a picture of one of his victims. Lampley was arrested thereafter.

Hardman's plan was to persuade mobsters to kill AUSA Koshy, in retaliation for having prosecuted the prior case against him. Hardman also wanted to have killed Marvin Drake (a.k.a. Marvin Droznek), Joseph Roselli (a.k.a. Joseph Lucas), and Hardman's ex-wife Cherilynn Collins, all of whom had testified against Hardman in the prior case. Hardman's plan was to file for a new trial, and thereby expose Droznek and Roselli, whom Hardman believed were wanted by organized crime families in New York and Philadelphia for having testified in other cases against the mob. In return for exposing Droznek and Roselli, Hardman asked that Collins and AUSA Koshy also be killed.

The jury convicted Hardman on September 20, 2005, on all charges in the second case, including five counts of solicitation to commit a federal crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 373, one count of conspiracy to murder a federal official on account of the performance of official duties, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1117, three counts of conspiracy to retaliate against a federal witness, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1513(e), and one count of conspiracy to commit interstate stalking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

On December 8, 2005, Hardman received a sentence of 180 months (15 years), followed by three years of supervised release, and a fine of $17,500 in the first case. That case was remanded by the Sixth Circuit for re-sentencing pursuant to the United States Supreme Court case United States v. Booker, and Hardman received the same sentence yesterday, after a hearing. Additionally, in the second case, Hardman received a sentence of 242 months consecutive to the 180 months, followed by five years of supervised release.

Co-defendant Lampley has pled guilty to one count of conspiring to kill Assistant U.S. Attorney Koshy and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11, 2006.

The first investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department - Vice Division, with assistance from the Plymouth, Michigan Police Department. That original case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sunny A.M. Koshy and S. Carran Daughtrey.

The second case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. Since one of the intended victims of the second murder-for-hire case was a local Assistant U.S. Attorney, that case was handled by Department of Justice attorneys Michael Taxay and Edward Nucci.