Filmmaker stages his own murder to catch his subject in an FBI sting in wild 'true crime' story

A filmmaker decided to shoot a documentary about his former employer — and was so disturbed by what he learned, and so feared for his life, that he entrapped him into a fake murder-for-hire plot that ended with an FBI sting operation, reported the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

"J. Esco was working as a computer technician in Florida when Fereidoun 'Prince Fred' Khalilian hired him for a repair job in 2009. He was soon working full time for Khalilian: a job offer at three times his salary was hard to refuse, Esco said," reported Noah Goldberg. "Khalilian’s lavish lifestyle impressed Esco. His boss ran in celebrity circles — he had helped open Paris Hilton’s short-lived Orlando nightclub. He drove a Range Rover and claimed to have a Bugatti and a Lamborghini at his house, according to prosecutors in a criminal complaint. He wore expensive jewelry and had a security team of at least four bodyguards who accompanied him when he went out, often spending tens of thousands of dollars in a single night at a club, the complaint said. For a year, Esco ran IT for Khalilian’s robocall company while helping his boss launch a social media music company."

Eventually, that job came to an end when the Federal Trade Commission sued him over misrepresenting warranties and his company was shut down. But years later, Esco decided to give his filmmaking career a boost by doing a documentary about his former boss — and as he got back in touch with him, learned about a pattern of lawsuits, as well as allegations of extortion, bribery, and “threats of mutilation, death, and threats to family.”

Over time, as Esco called Khalilian to try to get quotes for the documentary, Khalilian began to make threats against him, saying, “When I’m done with you, I’m going to cut each one of your f---ing fingers off,” Khalilian said on one recorded call on March 8, according to a transcript in the complaint. “I’m going to f--- you up b----. I’m going to have your f------ head.”

Ultimately, Esco began to fear Khalilian would put out a hit on him. So he arranged a plan with Mike Sherwood, Khalilian's head of security: they would fake his death using stage props and photos taken by his girlfriend, Sherwood would tell Khalilian he had hired a group of "Mexicans" to take him out, and Khalilian would pay for the hit, implicating him in attempted murder.

"Esco then went to the FBI and told them his story. The agents were interested. But before making an arrest, they wanted Khalilian to admit he had ordered a killing, Sherwood said," the report continued. "Esco spent months living in fear. The man he believed wanted him dead was still walking free and taking international trips. What if he visited L.A.? What if they crossed paths? The FBI told him to stay off the grid, Esco said. He could not post on social media, let alone go out for a meal. Every few weeks he’d sneak to the grocery store and back. He left the country for a bit, with the FBI’s permission, he said. 'I felt horrible. I was ordering in every day. It took a toll on me. You feel like you’re a ghost,' he said."

Eventually, Sherwood met with Khalilian with a wire hidden in a Dodgers hat on his car dashboard, and got him to confess to the killings, after which the FBI arrested him. He faces 10 years in prison, and denies all the allegations against him.

Murder for hire plots can shake communities to their core; a teacher in suburban Philadelphia was recently assassinated by a hitman as she sat at a drive through, with her son in the car at the time.