Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.

April 22, 2008

GRAND RAPIDS WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE SCHEME

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—ANN MARIE LINSCOTT, 49, of Rockford, Michigan, pleaded guilty today to charges in a murder-for-hire scheme. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, Charles R. Gross, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, McGregor W. Scott, announce today that LINSCOTT pled guilty to all three counts in the indictment that charged her with using facilities in interstate commerce with intent to cause the murder of a California resident.

Sentencing before the Honorable Janet T. Neff, U.S. District Court Judge, has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, the defendant will be subject to 10 years in prison on each of the three counts, with a term of supervised release to follow.

In November 2007, three California residents were searching the Internet Web site www.craigslist.com for job opportunities, and they exchanged e-mails with LINSCOTT regarding a job opportunity she was advertising on the Web site. The job description was advertised as “Freelance” with no further information provided. During the e-mail correspondence, LINSCOTT, who was a Michigan resident, asked each of the three individuals
responding to her advertisement to “eradicate” a woman living in Oroville, Butte County, California, and provided additional information on the intended victim to include a description of the victim, her age and her employment address. On two separate occasions, LINSCOTT offered payment of $5,000 upon completion of “the eradication task.” The three individuals reported the incident to law enforcement authorities in California.

Investigators in California identified the true identity of LINSCOTT’s intended victim and determined the victim was married. The victim’s husband was interviewed by investigators and acknowledged meeting LINSCOTT through an online college course in 2004 or 2005. According to the victim’s husband, he and LINSCOTT developed an online relationship. The victim’s husband met LINSCOTT in person when he traveled to Reno, Nevada, in July 2005 to attend a conference. LINSCOTT spent two days with the husband in Reno. LINSCOTT also visited the husband in Butte County in May 2007 and since that time they continued to communicate via telephone and email. While the charges were filed in the Eastern District of California, LINSCOTT was permitted to plead guilty in her home state in the Western District of Michigan.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by the FBI, Butte County Sheriff’s Department in California, and Oroville, California, Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Mekaru on behalf of the Western District of Michigan, and Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Rodriguez on behalf of the Eastern District of California.

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CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER

JOSEPH SHEMARIA

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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.