Trish Mehaffey, CR Gazette –
A man accused of attempting to hire a person to murder the Mount Vernon Police chief and other charges pleaded not guilty last week in U.S. District Court.
Lorenzo Harris-Thompson, 28, was indicted by a grand jury last month on charges of attempted obstruction of justice, attempted murder of a witness and murder for hire. He pleaded not guilty last Friday on all three counts and his trial is set April 30.
Harris-Thompson pleaded guilty last year to being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm and while pending sentencing in the Iowa County Jail, he was recorded in phone calls from the jail last November attempting to hire a hit man to kill Mount Vernon Police Chief Mark Winder.
The information regarding the alleged murder plot was contained in a revised sentencing memorandum for Melissa Johnson, 28. She was asked by Harris-Thompson to give money to a hit man to prevent Winder from testifying at his sentencing, according to court documents. Harris-Thompson was afraid Winder’s testimony would increase his prison time.
Johnson’s sentencing on the gun charge was reset to June 6.
