A white man in South Carolina sought a hit man to kill his black neighbor, hang the body from a tree and leave a “flaming cross” on the neighbor’s lawn, according to a court filing.

Fortunately for the neighbor, the hit man was an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The man accused of doing the hiring, Brandon Cory Lecroy, 25, was indicted by a grand jury this week on two charges related to the scheme. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a confidential source tipped off the F.B.I. on March 19 that Mr. Lecroy, of Hodges, S.C., had reached out to an unnamed white supremacist organization seeking help in the murder.