A federal witness was the intended target. An innocent neighbor lost her life.
Federal prosecutors in Maryland announced that Matthew Hightower received a 40-year prison sentence in a murder-for-hire case. The 2016 plot targeted a federal witness, but Latrina Ashburne, a neighbor, was killed in a case of mistaken identity.
The sentence runs concurrently with the prison term Hightower is already serving in a separate murder case, according to the announcement.
The case puts witness safety and the consequences of intimidation in focus. The source announcement provides the procedural details behind the sentence.
The Justice Department has reopened the petition process for people who did not previously file.
The case began with reports of missing mailed credit cards and unauthorized transactions.
The federal case involved a drug operation moving cocaine from California to Maryland.
