The investigation started after Vinas had a chance meeting with the acquaintance on April 19 in Central Falls, according to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Caolan Rudhan Scott.
Vinas, himself a contractor, told the unidentified acquaintance that he d done a construction job for another contractor a year before, and the contractor still owed him $8,500, according to the affidavit.
Vinas told the acquaintance of his unsuccessful attempts to collect the money and said the contractor had threatened his family, and he wanted to hire somebody to kill the contractor and the other man, Scott wrote.
The acquaintance told Vinas they might know of someone interested in the job and would soon be in touch, according to Scott. They met again the next day in the parking lot of a Dollar Tree on Broad Street in Providence, Scott wrote.