The father of John Graziano, best friend of Nick Hogan [Bollea] who was severely injured in the car accident that sent Hogan to jail, has been arrested and stands accused of plotting to murder his wife.

Edward James Graziano has been under investigation since December and during that time he propositioned an undercover agent about killing his wife Debra. He was arrested Thursday morning at his Palm Harbor home.

Graziano met with the agent and the tipster multiple times to plan the murder. According to detectives, he paid $1,100 in cash, $1,000 in a personal check and a $13 gift card to Westshore Pizza. He supplied the men with his wife’s schedule and asked that the murder be made to look like a car accident.

Debra and her attorney, George Tragos, were informed of the undercover investigation when it began. Tragos said, “We found out about it in mid-December that there was an investigation. And we were warned so that we could be careful. And Debbie’s only reaction is she’s very saddened by it. And she can’t understand why more tragedy would be heaped upon a family that has already suffered so much.” He added, “She will not leave the area because she will not leave her son. Her primary concern is John Graziano.”

Finances may have been the motive.

Graziano is said to be upset that he and his wife haven’t worked since his son’s accident and were strapped financially.

The state of Florida has granted Nick Hogan a business-only driver’s permit, allowing him to transport himself to and from work.

So I guess he won’t be driving, heh.

Hogan served a nearly five-month term after crashing his car into a tree leaving his best friend John Graziano forever hospitalized.

Nick isn’t eligible for a permanent driver’s license until 2011. In addition to that, he’s on probation for the next five years and must serve 500 hours of community service.

Hulk Hogan is out to convince everyone that his son is a changed man.

We knew this was going to happen months ago, when a conversation between Hulk and little Nicky was released to the public as they chatted on the phone about producing a reality show for the sole purpose of creating good PR.

“The New Nick” is what they had planned on calling it. They had conjured up the idea not long after Nick was sentenced to jail.

But after public backlash, the family’s master plan to fix Nick’s reputation was foiled.

Now, they are simply doing interviews and singing the praises of him, making it clear that he is not spoiled, that he has learned a lesson and that he is moving on from here.

Hulk told E!,

“He was on a roll. He was a young professional driver. He had the show going, and it all got real busy, and then when he went to jail, he got stripped of everything. He got stripped of clothes, of watches, he got stripped of his identity, and he found out what’s important in life. He knows what’s real, and what’s not real.

Lord, not the watches.

“And before he went in there, he was accountable, and he was responsible. And I think that’s what he found out in jail, the most important thing. He understands what is real life. You know, it’s about helping people, being positive, moving forward.

“He was a good kid before, he’s a great kid now. He’s not the same man he was when he went in there.”

Hulk says the accident was really hard on him, but that he will always love and support his son.

“You know, I just had to regroup, and you know, just really rely on what was in my heart and what I believe in, ’cause Nick is my son 24 hours a day. Whether he hits a home run, or whether he strikes out, he’s still my son.”

Hogan uses the interview to take a swing at his trashy ex-wife as well.

“You know, Linda says because she was visiting in L.A., she’s not responsible in any way, shape or form for what happened. Well, that’s not me.”

Yeah, because you know damn well you helped contribute to this disaster, that’s why.

Paying Nick’s numerous speeding tickets and violations over and over, with little or no consequences at all. In fact, you just kept on shelling out the cash for him to modify and customize his car. You still let him race, you still let him basically do whatever he wanted to do. And look where it got him.

I doubt the Hogan’s will ever accept any sort of responsibility in this tragedy.

Meanwhile, Nick is back to enjoying the finer things in life, and probably is rocking a flashy new car.

Gee, thanks dad!

After serving 166 days of an 8-month sentence, Nick Hogan was released from the Pinellas County jail this morning.

At around 12:30AM, sister Brooke met her 18-year-old brother outside, where reporters were also waiting. The siblings had no comments, and Nick held up a peace sign on his way out.

I did find a little humor in this TMZ video, when a camerawoman asks Brooke, “Mom, how are you doing? How are you feeling, seeing your son?” HA! See? The bitch does look 50-something.

Anyhow, Nick is free to rack up speeding tickets and race around once again, while his ex-best friend lies in a hospital bed with one huge dent in his head.

Hmmm…I wonder how long it will be before he gets yet another traffic infraction? Any guesses?

[P]

Nick Bollea (Hogan) will be released from jail three months sooner than we expected, for good behavior.

Good behavior of all things. Isn’t that a joke.

He was originally sentenced to eight months after nearly killing his “best friend” in a street racing accident and leaving him in a comatose-like state.

Nick will be released from jail on October 21st.

An anonymous jail official stated, “They automatically get credits towards early release, and if they don’t do anything bad while they’re here, they get to use the credits.”

Graziano’s lawyer, George Tragos, says it’s no surprise that Nick will be out early.

“It’s standard procedure. There is no way for us to impact his release date, that’s not within our control. It’s a formula worked out by the sheriff.”

[People]

Nick says he really likes his new jail. Wow! Nick sounds really torn about ruining the rest of his friend’s life.

Hulk Hogan’s son, Nick Bollea, who is serving an eight-month sentence in Florida for reckless driving, has been moved to a minimum-security facility where “it’s much better,” Hogan tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“They moved him to the place that he should have been in the beginning,” says Hogan, 54, whose son was transferred out of maximum-security after turning 18 last Sunday.

While he was under-age, Bollea was segregated from the rest of the prison population – at one point spending 28 days in solitary confinement because no other cell was available.

“It’s much better,” he says.

“Nick describes it as like a two-story warehouse with tables, seven or eight phones, TVs, and it’s people who are there for like child support and parking tickets. And instead of just once in a while being allowed go outside, they leave the door open to the exercise yard. He said, ‘Dad, I can even go outside at night and look at the stars.’”

Why is Nick in some posh facility? The only way I can feel okay about that is if he has a few new butt buddies. That’s all I wanna know, but would that major revelation ever come out? Doubtful.

If everything’s chill where Nick’s staying, I say they keep him there for eight more years, long enough to gain some sense of remorse instead of being a rich kid allergic to punishment and real life consequences mommy and daddy can’t bail ya out of.

Again.

Today Brooke Hogan ranted on her MySpace blog about reports that she didn’t go see her asshole little brother in jail for his 18th birthday. Here’s what she had to say:

Stupid people of the press

Heres how stupid and inaccurate the media can be…

According to the press I didn’t show up to my brothers 18th birthday at the jail.

Lets see…

*hes in jail

*Its an important birthday…the big 18!!!

*I’m only a 4 hour drive to Tampa

*He’s the most important thing in my life.

They must have thought I didn’t show cause they didn’t SEE me.

uhh…there’s such thing as a back door you jerks.

In conclusion…That goes to show you that you can’t believe anything you watch on TV or read in magazines. Cause people will make up BS without even knowing the facts. Hey Media! Why don’t you gather facts, check them, and then give the public the truth? That might work. Oh no…I forgot. You make too much money telling LIES.

Needless to say, I WAS there for my brother on his birthday because he is my best friend and NOTHING comes before family.

I noticed she had a ton of ‘kudos’ but there were no comments. So I submitted mine.

Oh please, we all know that you would freak out if the press didn’t pay any attention to you.

I guess she has to authorize all comments. Damnit, mine will never make it..

You might ask why I am so excited about Nick (Hogan) Bollea’s upcoming birthday.

Well, that would be because the little prison bitch turns 18 this Sunday and will no longer be housed with the juveniles! That means Nicky-poo gets to be transferred into an adult facility, with the big boys!

It’s said to be an “open dormitory type of setting” where he will be in contact with other adults.

Nick is to be released in October.

Make like McD’s and get serving, bitch!

I’ll just warn you now, this video is very disturbing.

In it you can see just how bad Graziano was injured – half his skull is missing.

Equally disturbing is the soundtrack that goes along with the video, so I’d suggest turning the volume off.