Hockey Player Pleads Guilty in Attempted Murder-for-Hire Plot

AP ^ | July 16, 2004

[nuconvert]

Hockey Player Pleads Guilty in Attempted Murder-for-Hire Plot

Jim Salter/Associated Press

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A former professional hockey player admitted Friday that he tried to hire a hit man, almost certainly bringing his National Hockey League career to an end. Former St. Louis Blues player Mike Danton pleaded guilty to a federal murder-for-hire conspiracy charge and faces seven to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 22.

The plot unraveled when the would-be hit man turned out to be a police informant.

"Obviously, this is what I think is a good result," said prosecutor Stephen Clark. "I think it's a fair deal."

Danton is seeking transfer to a prison in Canada, and prosecutors and the FBI said they won't oppose the move. U.S. District Judge William Stiehl, however, noted that Danton may not be allowed to return to the United States.

The prison time and possible restrictions likely will spell the end of the 23-year-old's NHL career, but his lawyer Robert Haar said the plea was the best option his client could choose.

"This was about saving as much of a young man's life as we could," he said.

Danton was to have been tried in September with co-defendant Katie Wolfmeyer, 19. He and Wolfmeyer, a college student from a St. Louis suburb, faced identical conspiracy charges, with Wolfmeyer accused of trying to hire the would-be killer of Danton's agent, David Frost.

Danton's plea agreement does not identify Frost as the intended victim. But prosecutors have said previously in open court that Frost was the man Danton wanted killed. Frost, when contacted Friday, angrily denied he was the target.

The would-be killer - identified by the government for the first time in court Friday as Justin Jones, a Columbia, Ill., police dispatcher - eventually went to police, and Frost was unharmed.

The prosecutor told the judge Friday that Danton had promised to pay Jones $10,000 for the killing, and to make it appear like a botched burglary.

Investigators have said Danton was worried that Frost would go to the Blues with information that could damage his career. Frost has said he urged Danton to get help for his use of painkillers and sleeping pills and his erratic behavior.

Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, Danton hung his head occasionally when U.S. District Judge William Stiehl outlined the case against him. He replied to the judge's questions with a "yes" or "no" before declaring, "I plead guilty."

Danton has been jailed since his arrest April 16 in San Jose, Calif., a day after the San Jose Sharks eliminated the Blues from the playoffs.

Wolfmeyer has pleaded innocent and is to be tried in September. Her lawyers have said she was a naive young woman simply smitten with an athlete who ultimately manipulated her.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

There's a Federal Court in East St. Louis? Or is that where the AP guy lives? Or where he drinks?

I had the displeasure of doing a cross country bike ride in 1984 - and went though East St. Louis. At that time, 17 years after race riots, there were still fenced, boarded up, burned out hotels with literal trees growing up through the asphalt. More square miles of chan link fence with barbed wire than anywhere on earth. I think it was one of the only Municipalities to go bankrupt pre 1990, and may hold the record for serial bankruptcies under Chapter 9. I hope things have turned up there.

[skinkinthegrass]

..and went though East St. Louis. At that time, 17 years after race riots, there were still fenced, boarded up, burned out hotels with literal trees growing up through the asphalt.

..can't add much, in '79 coming from Lambert Field ESL, IL to SL, MO....a really scary city. felt much safer in Ciudad Juarez/El Paso.

[Fintan]

Take the cannolis.
 

 

[Drammach]

Yah..

Send him back to Canada..
That'll show him..

[JLS]

Ok legal eagles, if this guy is transferred to Canadian prison who decides when he gets out? Can the Canadians decide after a week that he is reformed and let him out? Can the Canadian government pardon him?

[Alberta's Child]

This bizarre story only scratches the surface of the sordid culture of Canadian youth hockey. The relationship between Danton and his agent David Frost has been peculiar to say the least. This kind of thing is becoming more commonplace in Canada's junior hockey programs.

[rightisright]

You're right about that, and this was something about this story that appeared in one or two early articles that identified Frost as the intended target, and the "special" relationship between the two men.

Then that aspect of the story disappeared, almost as if the press wanted to protect a "protected class"

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

St Louis, east & west is a garbage dump, has been for decades.

[Welsh Rabbit]

Whenever I read about these botched murder for hire cases, I'm always amazed people think they can just go out and find a hitman somewhere. How can you trust someone you don't know? You either already know a hitman, or you don't.

[Drammach]

St Louis is a dump

No argument from me..
As a Kansas City resident of some 35 years or so, I can safely say you are correct..
I dread having to go there..

However, East vs. West, I would compare the difference to that of Germany before the wall came down.. not that East Germany is anything to brag about today..