DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin and Woodridge Chief of Police Brian Cunningham announced today that a former Des Plaines woman has entered a plea of guilty to contracting a “dark-web” company to murder the wife of a man with whom she had an affair. Tina Jones, 33 (d.o.b. 6/19/1986) formerly of 711 S. River Road, appeared in court this morning in front of Judge George Bakalis who accepted her guilty plea. Following Jones’ guilty plea to one count of Attempt First Degree Murder, a Class X Felony, Judge Bakalis sentenced her to twelve years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. She will be required to serve 85% of her sentence before being eligible for parole. Jones was taken into custody following today’s proceedings and will begin serving her sentence immediately.
On April 12, 2018, the Woodridge Police Department received a tip from producers of the television program “48 Hours” that an individual in Woodridge was involved in a murder-for-hire plot with a dark web entity known as the Sicilian Hitmen International Network. An investigation into the matter, led by the Woodridge Police Department, revealed that Jones paid the Sicilian Hitmen International Network more than $12,000 via bitcoin to have the wife of the man with whom she had an affair murdered. On April 17, 2018, Jones was arrested by authorities. The following day she appeared in Bond Court where bond was set at $250,000 with 10% to apply. On April 19, 2018, Jones posted the necessary $25,000 and was released from custody. She has been living in Georgia with her family since April 23, 2018.
“This morning, Tina Jones accepted responsibility for her actions and admitted that she attempted to arrange the murder of the wife of a man with whom she was having an affair,” Berlin said. “Thankfully, the intended victim, whom the defendant deemed a romantic rival, was unharmed even though Jones carefully planned the murder and paid more than $12,000 in bitcoins to the Sicilian Hitmen International Network to carry out the murder. This type of pre-meditated criminal scheming is an incredibly serious offense that warrants a serious punishment, as the defendant learned today. I would like to thank 48 Hours for bringing this matter to our attention. I would also like to thank the Woodridge Police Department for their outstanding work in identifying the suspect in this case as well as the Naperville Police Department for their assistance. I would also like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Demetri Demopoulos for his work in preparing a strong case against Tina Jones that ultimately led to today’s guilty plea.”
“I would like to thank the Naperville Police Department and the DuPage County State’s Attorney office for their assistance and guidance during this investigation,” Cunningham said. “I would also like to thank 48 Hours for alerting us to this situation. Thankfully, Jones’ plot to kill a woman she saw as an obstacle to her romantic pursuit never materialized and the victim was uninjured.”
