Maryland Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Jailhouse Murder Plot
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- A Maryland man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for putting out a hit on a victim during a jailhouse phone call, Anne Arundel County State Attorney Anne Colt Leitess announced Monday.
Aaron Brice, 31, of Easton, was sentenced to 25 years in prison with all but 15 suspended after Circuit Judge Robert Thompson convicted him of one count of solicitation of murder in the first-degree, the State's Attorney's Office said.
Brice was in custody March 10 at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center while awaiting sentencing in several cases when he used another inmate's account to call a friend, prosecutors said. Brice, who'd been found guilty the day before of violating a protective order, asked his friend to shoot the victim.
Prosecutors said Brice gave the friend detailed instructions describing where the victim could be found, her daily work schedule and directions to her family's home—including the street address, the types of cars her family drives and details on her license plate.
It was Assistant State's Attorney Joshua Adrian who discovered the murder plot and informed Anne Arundel County police, who got in touch with the victim and her family to make sure they were safe.
Police traced the phone call to Brice's friend and got a search warrant for the friend's home. During a raid of the friend's home, authorities seized a cell phone that took the jailhouse call and found the victim's address was stored on the device.
In a statement, Leitess praised the work of her subordinates, Adrian and Assistant State's Attorney Alena Mosier, who prosecuted the case.
"It's my hope that this sentence provides the victim and her family with a sense of safety and relief after this challenging ordeal," the state's attorney said.
