KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On September 18, 2024, Melody Sasser, 48, of Knoxville, TN, received a 100-month prison sentence from United States District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Following her imprisonment, Sasser will be on supervised release for three years and must pay $5,389.31 in restitution to the victim.
Sasser pled guilty to using interstate commerce facilities for murder-for-hire, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1958, as part of a plea agreement filed with the court.
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Court documents reveal that Sasser admitted to using a dark web site, the Online Killers Market, to hire a hitman to murder an Alabama resident. She provided the site with photographs and location details of the victim and requested the killing appear accidental or random to avoid a lengthy investigation. Sasser transmitted nearly $10,000 in cryptocurrency for the anticipated murder. However, the plot was unsuccessful, leading to her arrest and the search of her home, where law enforcement found a journal detailing hitman websites, a handwritten account of communications with the Online Killers Market, and a stack of U.S. currency under a sticky note with a Bitcoin address.
United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud announced the charges. The investigation was conducted by HSI Knoxville, HSI Birmingham, the Knoxville Police Department, and the Prattville, Alabama Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne-Marie Svolto of the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Source: Read Original Release
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