A 2016 murder-for-hire case in Chico has resulted in a five-year prison sentence for the woman who ordered the dirty deed, and moreover, the hired “killer” merely took her money in Bitcoin and did no actual murdering.

A cautionary tale for anyone considering hiring a murderer to kill someone you want dead, and paying them in Bitcoin. First, you could end up with a lengthy prison sentence. And second, as was the case with 38-year-old Kristy Lynn Felkins of Fallon, Nevada, you might be hiring some dark web con artist who will merely make off with your Bitcoin with no intention of actually committing the murder.

According to a sentencing release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Felkins hired a hitman to kill her ex-husband  for what was then $5,000 worth of Bitcoin on some dark web site called Besa Mafia. The feds add in that release that “The Besa Mafia website, however, was actually a scam, and Felkins was not refunded the bitcoin she sent to the site, which is no longer in operation.”

On top of that, the Bay Area News Group reports that Felkins was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday on murder-for-hire charges. She’d already pleaded guilty in March, in a plea deal designed to avoid taking the case to trial.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says that in February 2016, Felkins offered 12 bitcoin (worth about $5,000 at the time) to have her ex-husband whacked in Chico, asking the alleged hitman to “make it look like an accident.” According to a News Group review of court documents on the case, Felkins consequently messaged the purported hitman over the next four months asking if it was “possible to make it seem like it was a mugging gone wrong?,” and in March 2016 offered an extra $4,000 in Bitcoin to speed up the job.

And apparently Felkins had more than one motive. The News Group reports that Felkins was in line to receive a sizable life insurance payout upon her ex-husband’s death. Court documents also showed Felkins said she “did not care” if her ex’s new girlfriend “was harmed during the murder.”

Felkins is not currently in custody, but has been ordered to surrender this coming September to start serving her five-year sentence. The U.S. District Court judge also ordered Felkins be kept under supervision for an additional three years after completing her sentence.

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Image: Wesley Tingey via Unsplash