Bitcoin is now being utilized by dangerous folks to fulfill their hate.
The U.S. Division of Justice introduced Tuesday {that a} Mississippi girl was sentenced to spend a most of 10 years behind bars for her position in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot.
Forty-year previous Jessica Leeann Sledge pled responsible in February to hiring a purported murderer on the darkish internet and paying him in Bitcoin to kill her now ex-husband in Mississippi.
Choose Carlton Reeves of the U.S. District Courtroom sentenced Sledge to 120 months in federal jail, adopted by three years of supervised probation and a $1,000 nice.
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Sledge declined to talk at her sentencing, allowing her written assertion to the court docket to face and letting her lawyer to talk on her behalf.
John M. Colette, her protection legal professional, acknowledged that his shopper was a “first-time offender” with “zero chance of recidivism.” He requested the court docket to contemplate a jail time period of round 5 years.
Pelahatchie Lady Pleads Responsible in Homicide-for-Rent Plot: Jessica Leeann Sledge of Pelahatchie pleaded responsible to utilizing interstate commerce services within the fee of a murder-for-hire. https://t.co/yBTShaqlhv
— FBI Jackson (@FBIJackson) February 9, 2022
Sledge admitted in court docket that between September and November of final yr, she contacted a hitman over Whatsapp in an try and get rid of her partner.
Oops: Purported ‘Killer’ Turns Out To Be FBI Agent
A Federal Bureau of Investigation particular agent, in accordance with prosecutors, was the “hitman” she paid to perpetrate the assassination.
She scheduled a face-to-face assembly with the “killer” on November 1, 2021, in Brandon, Mississippi, to ship a further fee and particulars about her supposed goal.
Bitcoin funds totaling roughly $10,000 had been made by Sledge for the homicide of “Sufferer 1” on October 4, October 9, and October 10, 2021, in accordance with creator
Between October 22 and October 26, Sledge offered the FBI agent with explicit particulars about her husband. Primarily based on court docket paperwork, this contained varied pictures of her partner in addition to images of the automobiles he sometimes drove, together with the license plate numbers.
Investigations have indicated that the supposed goal remained unhurt. Sledge waived her rights and revealed her involvement within the murder-for-hire scheme after her arrest.
Jessica Leeann Sledge. Picture: MCSO
Not The First Time Bitcoin Is Used To Rent Hitmen
Sledge’s case just isn’t the primary involving the usage of cryptocurrency to pay gun-for-hires.
Federal prosecutors stated in June {that a} Beverly Hills man admitted utilizing Bitcoin to try to rent a hitman to homicide his ex-girlfriend after she needed to cease their brief affair.
The US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Central District of California stated on the time that Scott Berkett, 25, pleaded responsible to the murder-for-hire scheme wherein he paid about $13,000 in Bitcoin for the girl’s demise.
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Kristy Lynn Felkins Photograph: DOJ
One other girl has additionally admitted guilt to federal prices of hiring a hitman in March this yr to homicide her ex-husband utilizing cryptocurrencies.
The Division of Justice acknowledged that Kristy Lynn Felkins, 37, faces 10 years in jail after pleading responsible to utilizing interstate commerce services to commit the murder-for-hire plot.
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