The US Department of Justice sentenced Jessica Sledge to the statutory maximum of 10 years in Federal Prison. In 2021, the 40-year-old resident of Pelahatchie, Mississippi, hired a “hitman” and paid him $10,000 worth of bitcoin to kill her husband. She will also have to pay a $1,000 fine, while law enforcement agents will strictly monitor her actions for a term of three years after she gets released.
The authorities also sentenced Jeremy McAlpine and Zachary Matar of Orange Country to 36 and 30 months in prison, respectively, for luring over 2,000 investors into a fraudulent crypto scheme.
American law enforcement agents got information in September 2021 that Jessica Sledge had hired a murderer on the Dark Web. A month later, she paid him $10,000 worth of bitcoin so he could kill her husband.
Aware of Sledge’s intentions, an undercover police officer contacted her, identifying himself as the “hitman” she appointed with the task. After a series of recorded conversations, she confirmed the crypto transaction and its purpose.
In November 2021, Jessica agreed to meet the FBI agent she thought was the assassin, gave him an additional cash payment, and once again proved her murder plot. This gave the Feds enough evidence to arrest her.
The awareness and operation of the American authorities made the intended victim unharmed.