Young IL Divorce Lawyer Paid to Have His Girlfriend's Ex Murdered?
If there's anything that proves that common sense is not required to practice law, it would be the attorney murder-for-hire scheme out of Algonquin, Illinois, which has left 29-year-old Jason Smiekel behind bars and at least $15,000 in the hole.
Arrested after passing $7,000 to an undercover federal agent, Smiekel reportedly wanted his girlfriend's ex-husband dead prior to an upcoming divorce court hearing, believing that the man would reveal information that could potentially ruin his career .
Apparently he didn't think hiring a hit man would have the same effect.
This also wasn't the first time Smiekel decided to hire a hit man on behalf of himself and possibly his girlfriend, who he also happened to be representing in the divorce.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, he made an attempt back in February, but ended up being scammed out of $8,000.
He then approached an informant associated with the ATF, who then passed him over to an undercover federal agent, to whom he spilled the beans, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Smiekel told the faux hit man about his time constraints, his reasoning, and then offered up another $13,000 once the deed was done.
Yeah, he apparently also missed the part of law school where they teach you to keep incriminating information on a need-to-know basis.
The one thing that is still unclear about this story is exactly what information the unnamed ex-husband has on Jason Smiekel.
What could possibly be worse than having your name associated with an attorney murder-for-hire story?
Related Resources:
- Algonquin Man Arrested in Murder for Hire Case (DOJ)
- Chicago Lawyer Asked Employee to Wear Swimsuit to Office? (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- Porsche-Driving Seattle Lawyer Keyed 3 Poorly-Parked Cars (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)