COLUMBUS (WKOW) -- A Columbus woman faces federal charges she tried to hire someone to commit murder.
The United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin says Kelly Harper, 37, was arrested Friday. She allegedly used a murder-for-hire site on the dark web and paid in bitcoin to have someone killed.
The complaint says Harper provided a description of the person she wanted to kill, their vehicle, where they worked and their cell phone number.
Harper is being held in the Dane County Jail. Her initial appearance in court has not been set yet. If she's found guilty, she faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
A groups of journalists uncovered the murder-for-hire scheme and turned over their information to the Sun Prairie police.
Officers got forensic help from the FBI to analyze a Bitcoin transaction and learned that the money and originated from an IP address associated with Harper, according to the complaint.
The FBI executed a search warrant at Harper's Columbus residence.
When questioned by Sun Prairie police, Harper allegedly admitted to the plot.
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