A Texas influencer who promoted an online course was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to kill three people by paying a friend to do so. These include business rivals and people who have slandered her on social media.
Ashley Grayson, 35, ran a popular internet business from her Dallas home and billed herself as a best-selling, eight-figure business coach, course creator, and philanthropist. According to the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
In 2022, she contacted a friend in Memphis and asked him to fly to Dallas to discuss a “business opportunity.” The friend and her husband would kill three people for $20,000 each. Fox4 News reported.
The trio included Grayson's ex-girlfriend and a bitter rival who ran a similar online business in Mississippi.
Prosecutors say she also asked them to kill a Texas woman who had made negative social media posts about her online.
“This is a 21st century crime in which online feuds and senseless confrontations blend into the real world,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren.
“The defendant tried to hire someone to kill a woman because it only happened on the Internet.”
The Memphis couple pretended to agree to the deal, but instead gave Grayson's video to police for an additional $5,000 within a week to carry out the murder of the Mississippi woman.
The couple then sent Grayson a police flash video of an unrelated incident, claiming they had tried to carry out the murder but were caught. They then met with Grayson and were given $10,000 for the “attempt,” prosecutors said.
Mr. Grayson was found guilty of commission murder and sentenced to a maximum of 120 months in prison. Because this is a federal case, she will not be eligible for parole.
Her husband had previously been acquitted of any involvement.
