Man Charged With Solicitation of Murder
Los Angeles County prosecutors filed felony charges Monday against an El Segundo man who allegedly offered to kill Kobe Bryant’s accuser for $3 million.
Patrick Graber, 31, was charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder and one count of solicitation to dissuade a witness.
He appeared at the airport branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday afternoon, but his arraignment was postponed until Sept. 29. Judge Paula A. Mabrey set bail at $1 million.
Prosecutors allege that Graber tried to get undercover Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies Jose Revilla and Stefan Christopher to help him kill the woman who has accused Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star, of raping her in June in Edwards, Colo.
If convicted, Graber could be sent to state prison for as long as nine years and eight months.
Graber was arrested Sept. 18 in the parking lot of an El Segundo supermarket in a sting operation after he accepted a bag of movie prop money from the undercover officers. Graber is a Swiss national who has lived in El Segundo for two years and works as a trainer at a local gym.
Authorities said he offered to make Bryant’s legal troubles “go away” for $3 million. They are investigating whether he has ties to Russian organized crime.
Graber was being held at Los Angeles County Jail.
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