By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Lacey man was arrested yesterday after he allegedly solicited to kill a judge, offering an “eight-ball” of methamphetamine for the hit.
James R. Burnett, 27, was booked into the Thurston County Jail for solicitation to commit first-degree murder, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
His target was District Court Judge Kalo Wilcox who had sentenced him to jail, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said Burnett was in the Nisqually Jail and the investigation revealed he asked an inmate who was getting out to deliver a note with the offer “to my homies, or anybody who would do it.”
“He basically put a bounty on the judge’s head,” Elwin said.
An eight-ball is worth about $300, according to Elwin.
Law enforcement officers had not yet found the man who took the note as of yesterday afternoon. There’s no indication anyone at this point has tried to harm the judge, the sheriff’s office said in a news release yesterday.
Barnett was also arrested for other suspected crimes yesterday; felony harassment and two counts of making a bomb threat, in connection with calls to a bail bond business and a hotel, Elwin said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter