Jurors see tape with phony hit man

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published November 7, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Robert Covington turned down a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 40 years.

TAMPA - Robert Covington figured no one in predominantly black East Tampa would look twice at two white men whom federal prosecutors say he hired to go there and kill his ex-girlfriend.

Residents might even think they were cops, Covington, 35, told the two men during a conversation secretly taped by the FBI.

"Being a white dude, you're practically a god," Covington said on the tape.

But unknown to Covington, one of the men was an undercover Tampa police officer.

A jury watched and listened to the FBI surveillance footage Tuesday as the federal trial began for Covington, who stands accused of conspiracy to commit murder.

Prosecutors say he wanted Kristy Cotto, 34, killed to keep her from testifying against him in a domestic violence and weapons case in state court.

Covington - who has previous convictions for delivery of cocaine, assault and robbery - was offered a plea deal by state prosecutors that called for a 40-year prison sentence. He turned it down.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Kaiser told jurors that Covington, in jail following his 2005 arrest, pleaded with Cotto to keep quiet.

"He was unsuccessful, so he decided to have her murdered," Kaiser said.

Defense attorney Daniel Castillo said the relationship soured because Covington started seeing someone else.

"He left her for another woman, just like he left another woman to be with her," Castillo said.

According to court documents, the alleged conspiracy to kill Cotto began in West Virginia.

Covington had gone there with the new woman, who is now his wife, to visit her family. He hashed out his plan with his new girlfriend's relatives and another man, who prosecutors said called the FBI.

Prosecutors said Covington planned to pay the hit man in cocaine.

The trial continues today in U.S. District Judge James Whittemore's courtroom.

Times researcher John Martin contributed to this story. Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@sptimes.com or 813 226-3433.

[Last modified November 6, 2007, 22:50:01]