CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who pleaded guilty last year to a federal firearm charge may get more prison time now that he’s implicated in a murder-for-hire scheme against the Mount Vernon Police chief.
According to a revised sentencing memorandum filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, the government is asking for upward variance in the sentencing guideline range for Lorenzo Harris-Thompson, 28. He pleaded guilty in July to being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm but was recorded in phone calls from the Iowa County Jail in November attempting to hire a hit man to kill Mount Vernon Police Chief Mark Winder.
SourceMedia reported earlier this month about the alleged murder-for-hire when a sentencing memorandum was revised for Melissa Johnson, 28, who Harris-Thompson allegedly asked to give money to a hit man to prevent Winder from testifying at his sentencing.
According to court documents, Harris-Thompson was afraid Winder’s testimony would result in more prison time for him.
Johnson also pleaded guilty in July to being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. The gun charges against Johnson and Harris-Thompson stem from a house raid in September 2010 by Mount Vernon Police.
Harris-Thompson nor Johnson have been charged in the alleged murder-for-hire plot. According to the sentencing memo, the government is seeking more prison time for obstruction of justice in both cases.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan didn’t return a phone message left Friday afternoon.
Sentencing for Harris-Thompson is set 3:30 p.m. March 6 in U.S. District Court.
