COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Authorities say a white South Carolina man thought he was offering $500 to a hit man to kill his black neighbor, hang his body from a tree and burn a cross on his lawn, but he was mistaken.

• A S.C. man contacted a hit man via a white supremacist group to kill his black neighbor.
• The hit man was actually an undercover officer.
• He offered $500 to kill the man, hang his body from a tree and burn a cross on his lawn. 

Court documents show the supposed hit man contacted through a white supremacist group was really an undercover officer, and 25-year-old Brandon Lecroy was charged with murder for hire.

Federal prosecutors say Lecroy sent photos of the neighbor to the undercover officer and said "$500 and he's a ghost.''

Court papers don't say what Lecroy had against his neighbor in the town of Hodges in Greenwood County.

Lecroy was arrested last month after meeting with the undercover officer and giving him $100. Lecroy's lawyer did not answer an email from a reporter.