NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A New Orleans woman was sentenced to more than a year in prison for attempting to hire a hitman through a fake website in 2022.
U.S. Attorney Duane Evans said 34-year-old Zandra Ellis was sentenced by a judge to 18 months in prison for transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce on Oct. 31.
According to court records, Ellis submitted a request for someone to kill a “romantic rival” on a fake website.
Evans said the website was “complete with its own web-based intake form for would-be solicitors to fill out, in their own words, the who, what, when, where, and why for requested services.”
Court documents state the website also included a fake privacy statement called the “Hitman Information Privacy and Protection Act.” The fake website was reportedly connected to the FBI.
Ellis spoke with an undercover FBI agent posing as a hitman and recounted her request and agreed to pay the fake hitman $1,000.
Evans said Ellis met with the undercover agent on July 6, 2022, and provided a payment of $100 before her arrest.
Ellis pleaded guilty to transmitting threatening communications in interstate commerce and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $100 fee.
