Bitcoin is now being utilized by unhealthy folks to fulfill their hatred.
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 function 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 net and paying him in Bitcoin to kill her now ex-husband in Mississippi.
Decide 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 superb.
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Sledge declined to talk at her sentencing, allowing her written assertion to the courtroom to face and letting her lawyer to talk on her behalf.
John M. Colette, her protection legal professional, said that his consumer was a “first-time offender” with “zero chance of recidivism.” He requested the courtroom to think about a jail time period of round 5 years.
Pelahatchie Girl Pleads Responsible in Homicide-for-Rent Plot: Jessica Leeann Sledge of Pelahatchie pleaded responsible to utilizing interstate commerce amenities within the fee of a murder-for-hire. https://t.co/yBTShaqlhv
— FBI Jackson (@FBIJackson) February 9, 2022
Sledge admitted in courtroom that between September and November of final yr, she contacted a hitman over Whatsapp in an try and eradicate 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 an extra cost and particulars about her meant 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 writer
Between October 22 and October 26, Sledge supplied the FBI agent with specific particulars about her husband. Primarily based on courtroom paperwork, this contained numerous photographs of her partner in addition to images of the automobiles he usually drove, together with the license plate numbers.
Investigations have indicated that the meant 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 will not be the primary involving using cryptocurrency to pay gun-for-hires.
Federal prosecutors mentioned in June {that a} Beverly Hills man admitted utilizing Bitcoin to aim to rent a hitman to homicide his ex-girlfriend after she needed to cease their brief affair.
The US Lawyer’s Workplace for the Central District of California mentioned on the time that Scott Berkett, 25, pleaded responsible to the murder-for-hire scheme during which he paid about $13,000 in Bitcoin for the girl’s dying.
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Kristy Lynn Felkins Picture: 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 said that Kristy Lynn Felkins, 37, faces 10 years in jail after pleading responsible to utilizing interstate commerce amenities to commit the murder-for-hire plot.
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