Philadelphia man convicted of murder-for-hire plot to kill a drug rival

A Philadelphia man who prosecutors say orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot, then planned to kill the man he had hired to carry out the crime, was convicted Monday of murder and related charges.

Darnell Jackson, 51, was found guilty of murder-for-hire and possession of ammunition in connection with a plot to kill a drug rival in July 2021, United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said in a statement. Jackson was being held in the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.

Jackson, who goes by the nickname “Major Change” and had agreed to pay $5,000 for the hit, sent a picture of his rival to the would-be assassin and had several conversations about how the crime would play out, authorities said.

But unbeknownst to Jackson, the person he had hired to assassinate his rival was an FBI informant. In phone calls and text messages, he and Jackson discussed the hit, settled on the payment and discussed where and when the murder would take place, authorities said.

On the night the crime was to have been carried out, the would-be assassin called Jackson to falsely report that he had killed the rival. Jackson agreed to meet the man to pay him, but law enforcement officials stepped in instead.

When they pulled Jackson over near 65th Street & Guyer Avenue, he did not have the agreed-upon payment of $5,000, authorities said, and he was carrying a ghost gun loaded with 16 bullets. Prosecutors said Jackson was not on his way not to pay for the murder, but rather to kill the man he had hired to carry out the hit.

“Darnell Jackson not only wanted his intended target dead, he was open to killing others in the process,” Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said in a statement. “Given his lack of respect for human life, he belongs behind bars and that’s exactly where the jury’s verdict today will keep him.”

Jackson’s attorney, Nino Tinari, said Tuesday that Jackson was disappointed with the verdict and planned to appeal.