Jessica Sledge tried to find a darkweb hitman to kill her husband. The DOJ said that she succeeded. The U.S. Department of Justice sent Jessica Leeann Sledge of Pelahatchie to ten year imprisonment on Monday. She was allegedly trying to hire an assassin via a darkweb site using Bitcoin.
According to United States Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, and Special Agent Jermicha Fafy, the FBI’s Jackson Field Office, Sledge was sentenced for the maximum statutory sentence of 120 months imprisonment.
According to the filing of the DOJ, Sledge tried to contact an assassin via internet between September 2021 – November 2021. He sent three payments using Whatsapp for $10,000 in Bitcoin on October 4, 9 & 10.
Sledge did not know that the “hitman” with whom she was in touch was actually a federal agent. She met Sledge in Brandon on November 1, 2021 and was taken into custody. Sledge then admitted to her involvement in the murder-for hire plot.
Sledge was sentenced to a ten year prison term. She was also fined $1,000. Sledge will be released after three years of supervised release.
Sledge paid October 2021 when Bitcoin was valued at $54,771. The BTC would have a value of $5,800 today, if it weren’t for the crypto crash in Spring.
Regulators continue to use the crime use of Bitcoin to justify banning cryptocurrencies. Nelson Replogle, a Tennessee resident, allegedly paid a hitman that he had found on a website for murder to kill his wife using Bitcoins from his Coinbase wallet.
According to an FBI filing, Replogle sent Bitcoin to the would-be murderer . He also included a description of his wife’s vehicle and the time she would take their pet to see the vet.
The FBI obtained transaction details from Coinbase. Through a subpoena sent to Replogle’s internet provider, AT&T confirmed that the connection came from Replogle’s home. A warrant was issued for his arrest. Replogle’s wife was not hurt.
