Summary:
A Florida man has been charged with attempting to hire a hit man to kill an undercover agent who was investigating his tax liability.

Full article:
(CNN) -- A Florida man was arrested on suspicion of trying to hire someone to kill an Internal Revenue Service agent who was investigating him, prosecutors said Thursday. Randy Nowak, 48, of Mulberry, Florida, is charged with attempting to murder an employee of the United States related to the performance of her official duties, said Robert E. O'Neill, U.S. attorney for Florida's middle district. If convicted, Nowak would face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, O'Neill's office said in a news release. Authorities said Nowak, who owns a Polk County, Florida, construction company named RJ Nowak Enterprises Inc., met with an undercover FBI agent who was posing as a hit man Tuesday. Nowak gave the undercover person $10,000 as a down payment to kill the IRS agent, authorities said. Nowak also asked the undercover agent if he would be willing to burn down the IRS office in Lakeland, Florida, prosecutors said. "The FBI considers threats of violence against United States government employees due to their enforcement and/or investigative activities very serious matters," Steven Ibison, FBI special agent in charge, said in the news release. The IRS agent had been investigating Nowak's personal and professional tax liability, prosecutors said.