After 32-years of marriage, a couple called it quits. Couples accumulate a lot of stuff in 32 years—making a clean split challenging, especially when there is property.
Frustrated and ready to move on with a new man, the ex-wife was preparing for a second marriage. She asked her fiancé to get her ex-husband’s address. He hacked into a church membership directory for her and gave her what she wanted. Then they broke up—she moved on.
The ex-wife met another man whom she planned to marry, but she needed money for the wedding. Still embroiled in proceedings to split assets with her ex-husband, she asked a fellow church member who also helped her out around her home (doing handyman type things) to kill her ex-husband. She thought she’d be able to collect his $150,000 life insurance policy—she believed she was still the beneficiary.
She promised the handyman $600, a 2005 Dodge Stratus and her online dog and cat breeding business.
Even though the handyman was a felon, he violated the terms of his parole, and drove to the state where the ex-husband lived (they knew each other). He told him about his ex-wife’s murder plot. The husband notified the police.
The next time the handy man met with the ex-wife, he was working with the FBI. The FBI recorded her delivering the supplies needed for the hit—an untraceable pistol, ammunition, cash, and the Dodge Stratus. After the meeting, the local authorities stopped her, and the FBI made the arrest.
In 2017, almost two years after the crime occurred, the ex-wife pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
A judge sentenced the 57-year-old ex-wife to ten years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
During the peak of Covid, she applied for a compassionate release—because of health issues—the judge denied her request for a compassionate release.
She also challenged the conviction because the court didn’t have jurisdiction—the crime occurred in a state not within a federal territory, considering her ‘Sovereign Citizen’ beliefs. The judge denied this motion.
Lastly, she petitioned the court to re-sentencing because her conviction no longer categorically qualified as a ‘crime of violence.’ The court agreed and re-sentenced the ex-wife to 87 months. She has since been released from prison.
Source: United States District Court, United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, CBS News
All data and information provided is for information and research purposes only and not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. Criminal cases may have been appealed or verdicts overturned since I researched the case. All information is provided on an as-is basis.
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