By CNN Staff
(CNN)–Federal authorities arrested a man suspected of taking part in a plot to abduct a prosecutor’s father on behalf of a prisoner serving a life sentence in North Carolina, the FBI said Monday.
The FBI’s Philadelphia bureau took Jakym Tibbs, 21, into custody early Monday at a residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch said.
He was expected to appear in federal court in Harrisburg later in the day, Lynch said.
The FBI had offered a $25,000 reward for Tibbs and Quantavious Thompson, 18. Thompson was arrested last Wednesday and is scheduled to be in court later this week.
“It is too soon to determine whether the reward offered played a role in his capture. The investigation into the kidnapping of Frank Janssen from his home in Wake Forest, North Carolina, is ongoing,” Lynch said in a statement.
Tibbs’ apprehension marks the seventh arrest in the April 5 abduction of Janssen. He was rescued by police five days later at an apartment in Atlanta.
The kidnappers sent demands to Janssen’s family “for the benefit” of Kelvin Melton, an inmate at Polk Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant related to criminal complaints against the defendants.
Janssen’s daughter, Colleen Janssen, is an assistant district attorney in Wake County and had prosecuted Melton, officials said.
Melton is serving a life sentence without parole.
Authorities said they traced a call to Melton’s prison cell, from where he allegedly communicated with the kidnappers.
The FBI said the group planned to kill Janssen and bury him at the apartment complex, which is near the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, according to CNN affiliate WXIA.