Thirty-eight year old Kristy Lynn Felkins pleaded guilty in March to utilizing interstate commerce tools for murder-for-hire, per the U.S. Department of Justice. She was facing a maximum 10 year prison sentence.
In 2016, Felkins transferred 12 itcoin">Bitcoin, valued then at $5,000, to the administrator of a Tor dark web site called Besa Mafia that advertised murder-for-hire services. Per CoinGecko, that itcoin">Bitcoin would be worth about $360,000 today.
For four months in 2016, Felkins exchanged messages with the Besa Mafia site admin, providing details like her ex-husband’s home address, vehicle, and work schedule, as per a 2020 criminal complaint.
Felkins requested that her ex-husband’s murder appear accidental but declined a $4,000 upcharge. After sending the payment, the site admin claimed a hitman was assigned and the murder would occur within a week.
However, no killing happened since Besa Mafia was a scam site. Per a DOJ press release, Felkins was not refunded the itcoin">Bitcoin and the site is now defunct. The DOJ did not reveal how they learned of Felkins’ actions.
At Friday’s sentencing, Felkins’ ex-husband Gabriel Scott said he was very surprised to discover the foiled plot, calling Felkins a wonderful mother, per The Sacramento Bee.
According to Scott’s statement to Judge Nunley, the divorce was as amicable as could be expected, yet he still felt Felkins deserved sentencing.
As per the complaint, Felkins told the Besa Mafia admin she stood to acquire Scott’s retirement, their house, and potentially a large insurance payout from his death.
However, on Friday Felkins expressed gratitude that the Besa Mafia person did not follow through. She stated “I’m very glad that no harm came to Gabe. I do thank God every day that the person I talked to was a scam artist.”
A comparable sting resulted in a Mississippi woman’s arrest and imprisonment last year for paying $10,000 in itcoin">Bitcoin to a purported hitman who was actually an undercover federal agent.
