Published: November 28, 2008 02:55 pm      

Crawford returns to states; arrested

By Randy Mitchell

Staff Writer



SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — A third suspect in a local murder-for-hire plot was arrested in San Francisco Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma Sheldon Sperling said Michael Andrew Crawford, 26, Ada, is in custody and will be returned to Oklahoma soon. He was serving in the military in Suwon, Republic of Korea.

“He is awaiting transportation here via the U.S. Marshal Service,” Sperling said. “There will probably be a detention hearing. Under federal law there are really two questions: one, is the defendant likely to flee, and two, is the defendant likely to pose a danger to the community? If either of those questions is answered in the affirmative, the defendant in most cases, is detained pending trial.”

In mid-November, Crawford was charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire after a federal grand jury returned an indictment against him.

Officials have alleged Crawford, along with Tonia Rene Mullins, 32, and Regina Hercules, 42, both of Ada, attempted to hire a hit man to kill Crawford’s wife.

“The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,” Sperling said.

“On September 4, 2008 the Ardmore Police Department notified the FBI of a report that Tonia Mullins was looking for a hit man to kill the wife of Michael Andrew Crawford,” Sperling said. “Mullins and Crawford intended to buy a house together with $250,000 they anticipated collecting from the victim’s life insurance policy.”

In a felony information document filed by Pontotoc County District Attorney Chris Ross in September, he alleged Mullins and Hercules approached a person to discuss finding a hit man. They later met with an undercover OSBI agent they believed to be a hit man and offered him $5,000 to kill Crawford’s wife, Ross said in the document.

Mullins and Hercules allegedly offered to give the agent jewelry and other valuables to hold as collateral until the life insurance proceeds on Crawford’s wife could be obtained, according to Ross.

Crawford reportedly spoke to the agent “hit man” and said he wanted his wife “in the ground” and sent a letter stating he owed the agent $5,000, Ross said.

Mullins and Hercules allegedly provided the agent with photographs of Crawford’s wife, her car and her apartment so he could locate and identify her for the purpose of murdering her, according to Ross

“The two females arrested approached someone and expressed their intent, allegedly, and were eventually introduced to an undercover officer,” Ross said. “The FBI and the OSBI investigated it with our office providing legal advice and being consulted on what was going on. They made the arrests here locally.”

Investigators have video tapes, audio tapes, text messages and photographs as evidence in the case, Ross said.

State charges against the trio were dropped to allow federal officials to file charges. Mullins and Hercules have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy and use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

Mullins and Hercules will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence report which takes about two months according to Sperling.

“The statutory range of punishment is up to 10 years imprisonment and/or up to $250,000 in fines, with three years supervised release,” Sperling said. “Preliminary sentencing guidelines project each defendant could face 87 to 108 months in prison.”