Court documents reveal that the alleged plot to harm a jail official, leading to the police corruption and organized crime investigation known as Project South, was orchestrated by suspects who used fake identities on an encrypted messaging platform to hire someone for the job.
Shortly before the purported attempt on the official’s life, the suspects reportedly utilized the Signal app to exchange personal details and images of the target, a high-ranking corrections officer at Toronto South Detention Centre whose identity is shielded by a publication ban.
The prosecution’s factum, submitted in Ontario Superior Court, outlines how intercepted messages on seized phones suggest an alleged gun-for-hire network was behind the scheme to harm the official.
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The investigation into Project South was launched in June 2025 following an incident where York Regional Police intercepted an alleged attempted attack when the suspects’ vehicle collided with a police car stationed near the official’s residence.
Initially, almost 30 individuals faced charges in connection with Project South, including seven Toronto police officers and a retired constable. One officer, now retired, pleaded guilty recently, and a civilian’s charge was dropped.
‘Hit Squad Needed’
On June 16, 2025, four days before the thwarted attack, Dequon Lemonious, allegedly known as “Danny Phantom” on Signal, reportedly asked Median Jackson, supposedly identified as “Lebron James,” to find someone to verify the presence of a specific vehicle at an address.
