A North Carolina businessman who worked the gambling machine circuit in North Philadelphia has admitted he tried to put a price on two people’s heads. On Monday, 48-year-old Xin Guang Guo of Plymouth, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire scheme in which prosecutors say he agreed to pay $15,000 for each killing and handed over a $2,500 down payment to what he thought was a hitman in Philadelphia. The intended targets, according to prosecutors, were Guo’s former business partner and that partner’s romantic partner. Guo was arrested after meeting the supposed killer in Philadelphia on Oct. 6, as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Undercover Sting and Evidence
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, federal agents were already listening in by the time Guo showed up for the meeting. The ATF had received a tip on Sept. 30, 2025, and investigators obtained text messages and recordings of phone calls in which Guo allegedly sent photos and identifying information for the two intended victims.
Prosecutors say Guo then arranged an Oct. 6 rendezvous in Philadelphia, where he met an undercover ATF officer posing as a hitman. At that meeting, Guo allegedly handed over $2,500 as a deposit to buy a gun and made clear he wanted photographic proof of the killings before he would pay the rest. Agents moved in shortly after Guo left the meeting and took him into custody.
Local Ties and the Business Link
Local coverage reports that Guo ran a business placing gambling machines in North Philadelphia, giving him a foothold in the neighborhood where investigators say the murder-for-hire plot took shape. The confidential source who first alerted authorities to the alleged scheme reportedly knew Guo through those same neighborhood ties.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and other regional outlets have detailed Guo’s guilty plea, as well as the federal court filings that laid out the timeline of the investigation…