A judge in federal court gave a North Texas woman a nine-year prison sentence for using Bitcoin to hire someone to kill her boyfriend's lover.
Officials stated that Michelle Murphy, 58, converted cash to Bitcoin using an ATM and then sent around $10,500 to the hitman's cryptocurrency wallet. This information was reported by KDFW.
The goal was for the hitman to murder a woman that the woman's boyfriend was involved with.
However, the hitman, who was found on the 'dark web', instead got in touch with the Department of Homeland Security in August 2023.
Investigators traced Murphy through her digital trail, ultimately discovering that she had utilized a crypto ATM on three occasions to convert cash to Bitcoin.
Authorities caught up with Murphy and her boyfriend at Dallas Fort Worth Airport.
Murphy eventually admitted that she was upset about her boyfriend's affair and had attempted to hire someone to murder the woman. She pleaded guilty to arranging a murder in September.
She was given a nine-year prison sentence on Thursday, along with two years of supervised release.