James 'Tim' Norman: Former 'Welcome to Sweetie Pie's' star gets life in prison for plotting nephew Andre Montgomery's murder
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: James ‘Tim’ Norman has been sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, March 2, confirms authorities. The reality star from ‘Welcome to Sweetie Pie's' was involved in a murder-for-hire plot to kill his nephew in 2016. It was in September 2022 when Norman was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Andre Montgomery Jr on March 14, 2016, as per a press release from the US Attorney's Office Eastern District of Missouri.
Both Norman and Montgomery Jr appeared together on OWN Network’s Welcome to Sweetie Pie'. It ran successfully for 9 seasons, which documented their family's soul-food business between 2011 and 2018. Prosecutors claim, the culprit arranged his nephew’s murder through intermediaries with the aim to benefit his fraudulent life insurance policy of $450,000 he took out on Montgomery Jr. "Tim Norman portrayed one image to the public, but there were more sinister intentions lurking underneath," said Assistant US Attorney Angie Danis during Thursday's sentencing hearing, in a press release. "And the measure of someone's character is what they do when they think no one is watching," he added before saying, "When he thought no one was watching, he planned the execution of his nephew and carried it out."
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'I'm still in disbelief'
Last week, Norman claimed his innocence on the social media platform, where he said, "I'm still in disbelief. The feds knew 100% I did not do those insurance policies. But the jury didn't get to hear that." Norman posted on Instagram on February 23, "#innocent." As per an earlier press release, the life insurance policy included "numerous false statements regarding Montgomery's income, net worth, medical history, employment, and family background." Interestingly, the other defendants in the case all pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire conspiracy, namely Travell Anthony Hill, Terica Ellis, and Waiel ‘Wally’ Rebhi Yaghnam, reports People.
'Hopefully this result will provide some measure of peace'
St Louis was given 32 years sentence in October. 2022, after admitting that he fatally shot Montgomery with a .380-caliber handgun. He also confessed that a woman shared his location, who knew both him and Norman, authorities said. Hill, was paid $5,000 for committing the crime. The investigators identified the woman as Ellis, 39, who confessed that Norman paid her $10,000 to find Montgomery and pass on his location.
"Although Andre's family was robbed of their loved one, hopefully, this result will provide some measure of peace and justice for them," said US Attorney Sayler A Fleming in a press release.