Christopher wants to be let out of jail
Saying she entered a guilty plea only because she feared for her safety at Warren County Jail, Tresia Christopher wants the court to consider releasing her early on probation.
Christopher, 44, is serving a 12-year sentence after entering a guilty plea to solicitation of murder charges last November. The charges were filed after Christopher tried to hire a hitman to kill her husband. Unknown to Christopher, the would-be hitman was actually an undercover TBI agent who was being electronically monitored by other officers.
Christopher was arrested after payment for the killing was discussed inside a car in Wal-Mart’s parking lot. The gun to be used in the killing reportedly belonged to the intended victim – as did part of the money Christopher reportedly promised the hitman. Police were tipped to the murder conspiracy by a man who said he was approached by Christopher to commit the murder.
Christopher entered her guilty plea shortly after she had claimed her innocence in the murder conspiracy. In earlier hearings, she maintained she was set up and that she was not the person trying to have her now ex-husband killed.
In her plea for early release, which is set to be heard by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley today, Christopher maintains it was fear that drove her to enter the plea-bargain agreement. Specifically, Christopher, in handwritten correspondence sent from prison to the court, said fellow prisoners at Warren County Jail had assaulted her and were mentally abusive to her because she did not fit in with the group there. She said she feared she would be harmed if she stayed there longer, noting she suffered severe injuries when she was thrown from a bunk in her jail cell.
In her plea to the court, Christopher said she would be a good citizen if released early and wants to help the aging members of her family. She also says she needs to seek medical treatment.
Under her current sentence, Christopher will not be eligible for parole until she serves 30 percent of her 12-year sentence. She has been incarcerated since her arrest in May 2002, meaning she has just under two years until her first chance of parole eligibility if the court does not change her sentence today.