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Individual Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Paying $20,000 in Bitcoin to Contract Child’s Murder (Report)
John Michael Musbach, a 34-year-old from Haddonfield, New Jersey, has reportedly been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for hiring a hitman to carry out a murder.
He transferred $20,000 worth of BTC to the “executor” to eliminate a child who was set to testify against him in a child-pornography case. Additionally, the child was the victim.
The Gruesome Crime That Led to the Punishment
Recent reports indicate that Musbach exchanged sexually explicit videos and images with a 13-year-old child during the summer of 2015. The victim’s parents became aware of the crime and alerted law enforcement.
Authorities in New York identified Musbach as the perpetrator. They worked in conjunction with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s office, which led to his arrest in March 2016.
Alongside the pornography charges, investigators uncovered that Musbach harbored even more sinister intentions. A search of his residence revealed that he was seeking a hitman on the Dark Web to eliminate the child to prevent testimony against him.
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The individual inquired with one potential “killer” if murdering a 14-year-old would pose a problem. He was assured that the age of the target was not an issue and paid roughly 40 BTC (approximately $20,000 at that time).
In 2017, Musbach pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child through sexual contact. He received a two-year suspended sentence with lifetime parole supervision.
However, after learning of his murder plans, the Camden federal court revised the sentence to six and a half years. He faced a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.
Surprisingly, not the First Case
Scott Quinn Berkett, a 26-year-old from Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, pleaded guilty last summer to sending $13,000 in bitcoin to a hitman on the Dark Web tasked with killing Berkett’s ex-girlfriend.
Undercover agents uncovered the crime and approached the offender posing as the hitman. Berkett confirmed his intentions and even transferred additional funds to the agents.
Initially, prosecutors sought a ten-year prison sentence. However, they later recommended a five-year term, citing Berkett’s “mental health condition” as a mitigating factor. Judge Scarsi accepted this recommendation and sentenced him to 60 months in prison.
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