דעפּאַרטמענט פון גערעכטיקייט מודיע the sentencing of Jessica Leeann Sledge of Pelahatchie, Mississippi, to ten years in prison on Monday for allegedly attempting to hire an assassin through a darkweb website using Bitcoin.
Sledge was sentenced to the statutory maximum of 120 months in prison for “using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire,” according to United States Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the FBI’s Jackson Field Office.
די דאָדזש ס איינגעבן says that Sledge attempted to contact an assassin online between September 2021 and November 2021 and sent three payments using Whatsapp totaling $10,000 in Bitcoin on October 4, 9, and 10 of last year.
Unbeknownst to Sledge, the “hitman” she was in contact with was a federal agent who met Sledge in Brandon, Mississippi, on November 1, 2021, where she was arrested and admitted to her role in the murder-for-hire plot.
In addition to a ten-year prison sentence, Sledge was fined $1,000 and will spend three years on supervised release following the completion of her prison term.
Sledge’s payments in October 2021 were made when Bitcoin was priced at around $54,771. With the crypto crash this Spring, the BTC would be worth around $5,800 today if law enforcement held onto it.
Bitcoin’s use in crime continues to be a cudgel regulators use to justify a ban on cryptocurrencies. Last year, Nelson Replogle of Tennessee allegedly paid a hitman he found on a murder-for-hire website to kill his wife using Bitcoin from his Coinbase wallet.
According to the FBI filing, Replogle sent the would-be killer ביטקאָין, a description of his wife’s car, and a time when she would take their pet to the veterinarian.
The FBI obtained the transaction details from Coinbase and through a subpoena to Replogle’s internet provider, AT&T confirmed the connection had come from Replogle’s home. At which time a warrant was issued for his arrest. Replogle’s wife was unharmed.
בלייבן אויף שפּיץ פון קריפּטאָ נייַעס, באַקומען טעגלעך דערהייַנטיקונגען אין דיין ינבאָקס.
Source: https://decrypt.co/106454/woman-behind-bitcoin-murder-for-hire-plot-sentenced-to-ten-years-in-prison