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Man gets 10 years for promising $10K, Hawks tickets in murder-for-hire plot of ex-wife

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated he had mailed $800 in cash to the assassin to show he was serious.

ROME, Ga. – An Acworth man was sentenced to a decade in prison for attempting to hire someone to kill his ex-wife and promising to pay $10,000 in cash and two tickets to an Atlanta Hawks basketball game for the murder

Michael McEarchern was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy on July 13 to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. The 29-year-old was convicted of murder-for-hire on April 24 after he pleaded guilty.

“McEarchern was serious about having his ex-wife killed and provided $800 as a down payment for her murder,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “The defendant has been brought to justice and his lengthy prison sentence will provide him with an opportunity to reflect on his egregious crime.”

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McEarchern was an inmate in Bartow County after being arrested on drug charges in October 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. While incarcerated, McEarchern reached out to multiple people trying to find someone who could arrange for the murder of his ex-wife, who lived in Cobb County.

McEarchern’s desire to kill his ex-wife was later reported to the FBI. Taking his motive seriously, the FBI then waited for McEarchern to reach out to an informant about the kill-for-hire, which he did.

Thinking he was setting up the killing of his ex-wife, McEarchern agreed to pay $10,000 in cash along with two tickets to a Hawks game. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated he had mailed $800 in cash to the assassin to show he was serious.

The FBI retrieved the envelope with the money along with an address where the assassin could find McEarchern’s ex-wife.

“By providing an address and up-front money for the would-be assassin, McEarchern left little doubt that if the threat had not been discovered he may have found someone to carry out the heinous deed,” Pak said.

McEarchern was arraigned before a U.S. Magistrate Judge and the case was investigated by the FBI along with the help of Bartow County Sheriff’s Office.

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