Spokane Police Department/LynnXXXPleasant/TwitterA former porn star has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after attempting to hire a hitman to murder the father of one of her children.
Katrina Danforth, who appeared in adult films under the name Lynn Pleasant, was caught in 2018 by an undercover police officer who was posing as a hitman.
She pleaded guilty in August last year to two of five counts of illegal use of interstate commerce — specifically, telephones and mail — in commission of a murder for hire.
LynnXXXPleasant/TwitterThe crimes carried a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, though Danforth was expected to face less prison time because she had no prior felony convictions. However, on Tuesday, February 25, she was sentenced to 10 years at a federal courtroom in Coeur d’Alene, The Spokesman-Review reports.
Her sentence also includes three years of probation and a $1,000 criminal fine.
Investigators said the 32-year-old discussed hiring a hitman with an acquaintance, who gave her a phone number that belonged to the undercover police officer. Danforth arranged to meet the apparent contract killer in October 2018 to discuss the murder of her ex, identified only with the initials R.H., for which she was willing to pay $5,000.
Spokane Police DepartmentDanforth communicated with the undercover officer via phone call and text for a month ahead of her arrest, and sent a ‘thank you’ card alongside $2,500 as an alleged down-payment for the job to the officer’s address.
Danforth also provided the prospective hitman with details about where the father of her child worked, as well as photographs and paperwork to help him plan the murder.
The former porn star was ultimately arrested at Spokane International Airport in Washington. Shortly after her arrest, Danforth told local outlet KHQ, as per the New York Post, that she had no idea why police had cuffed her.
According to a plea agreement, cited by NBC News, Danforth had ‘specific requirements that the hitman was to accomplish’, which included her ex’s body being easily discoverable. The former porn star allegedly ‘did not care if others who lived in the home were harmed’ as long as it wasn’t her child.
Defence attorneys argued she had a troubled childhood, which included sexual violence, prior to her involvement in adult films. They claimed she had been training to become a paralegal while awaiting sentencing in federal court.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.