Crime

Attorney Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison After Pleading Guilty In Murder-For-Hire Plot

She allegedly wanted to hire a hitman to kill her estranged husband's girlfriend.

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Jennifer Emmi (Image via Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office)

Former animal rights attorney Jennifer Reba Emmi, also known as Jennifer Reba Edwards, was sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this week for her involvement in a murder-for-hire plot. According to an affidavit filed in the case, one of the employees on Emmi’s Colorado ranch said she asked him to “take care of” her estranged husband’s girlfriend, which he understood to mean murder. When the employee asked if she also wanted her husband killed, Emmi reportedly indicated, “Just her.” The employee went to authorities in November of last year to report the incident.

As reported by Law & Crime, Emmi allegedly made additional overtures to hire a hitman:

The witness made clear to authorities he wanted nothing to do with the plot, calling the defendant “psychotic,” and saying that she did not care about the ramifications of her actions. According to investigators, the man contacted them again to say he spoke with Emmi another time and recorded it. In this conversation, the defendant allegedly discussed using the 28-year-old as a middleman to a potential hitman in Texas. The informant asked if she was serious about going through with the plot. Emmi allegedly said yes, and they discussed a possible start-up cost of $2,500 to $5,000.

This time, the defendant was allegedly open to also having her husband killed.

“I’m inclined to kill two birds with one stone so to speak,” the animal rights attorney allegedly said, saying her husband was the “one leading this battle.”

Authorities also said an additional ranch employee with previous military service was also approached about killing people on Emmi’s behalf.

Emmi pleaded guilty to nine charges across three cases, including solicitation to commit second-degree murder, stalking, retaliation against a witness, heat-of-passion strangulation, attempting to influence a judge, violation of a bail bond condition, felony menacing, and two counts of child abuse. She was sentenced to 10 years to be served concurrently.

As part of her plea deal, an additional 11 felony charges and 12 misdemeanor charges were dismissed.

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The district attorney made the following statement on the case:

“The defendant poses a threat to the health and safety of our community and caused significant trauma to the victims of her crimes,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Kate Knowles said in a statement following the hearing. “The court’s sentence ensures that they can move on with their lives without fearing for them.”

Emmi told the court that she struggles with mental health issues, and “never wanted to kill anyone.” She went on, “I’m not capable of such a thing. I did horrible things that were completely out of character, and I’m so embarrassed about them.”

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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