BEVERLY HILLS, LOS ANGELES (KNX) – A Beverly Hills man who allegedly tried to hire a hitman from the dark web to murder a woman who tried to break up with him multiple times plead guilty in court.
According to the Department of Justice, 25-year-old Scott Quinn Berkett pleaded guilty to one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire on Monday.
Federal officials said Berkett met a woman online in 2020 and the woman went to Los Angeles a month later to meet him. The woman said Berkett became “sexually aggressive” and “very possessive”, according the affidavit. After the trip, the woman tried multiple times to break up with him, but Berkett refused and continued to message the woman.
“ In April 2021, a family member, who had learned that Berkett continued to contact the victim, called and sent text messages to Berkett’s father’s phone, and, on April 20, Berkett appears to have responded saying “consider this matter closed,” the Department of Justice said.
In that same month, Berkett posted an advertisement for a hitman on a site on the dark web. According to Oxygen.com (who cited the affidavit),he asked for proof of the woman’s death, writing, “She has a distinctive tattoo on one of her forearms that I know the image of, so a photo of her corpse and a photo of her tattoo for identification would work…”
Berkett then allegedly sent $11,000 in bitcoin to website and provided the woman’s information, Oxygen.com also reported. The site, which turned out to be a scam, notified authorities.
It was then an undercover officer, who pretended to be a hitman, sent pictures of the woman to Berkett. Berkett then sent money via Western Union to who he thought was the hitman.
Berkett was arrested May 2021.
His next sentencing is scheduled for September 12. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
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