A man in Cleveland who admitted that he had attempted to persuade a patient to carry out a murder for hire was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison by a federal judge. The defendant, who used to work as a nurse at the Cleveland Clinic, was accused of trying to hire the patient as a "hit man."
Prosecutors asserted that the defendant offered the emergency room patient a cash payment of ten thousand dollars as an incentive to kill a designated woman. The motive for the proposed killing was said to be tied to an ongoing argument over who owned a home that used to be the property of her brother, now deceased. The charges were evidently lodged in federal court because the defendant was accused of using telephone communications in the course of trying to carry out the purported scheme.
In the course of the federal trial court proceedings, he also acknowledged that he was engaged in a conspiracy to gain access to certain private medical records that he had no right to see, as well as to commit wire fraud.
No harm came to the woman named as the desired victim of the plan. Police learned of the crime and launched an investigation after the patient solicited by the defendant reported the offer. He told them that the nurse, in the course of a conversation, inquired as to whether or not he had ever killed anybody in the past. No charges were brought against the patient.
Charges of murder or attempted murder, whether prosecuted in state or federal court, are regarded as extremely serious criminal charges, usually carrying heavy sentences of imprisonment upon conviction. The complexity of defending against such charges underlines the importance and urgency of anyone facing similar charges to consult with an experienced criminal defense attorney at the earliest possible stage in the case.
Source: WKYC.com, "Nurse sentenced to 12 years in murder-for-hire plot" No author given, Aug. 21, 2013