Karen Lofgren, 48, was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to Solicitation to Commit Murder in the Second Degree on Friday. In early 2012, the defendant hired a “hit man” to kill her estranged husband. In reality, the killer was a Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective working undercover.

“Hiring a hit man only works in the movies,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “All the defendant bought is 14 years in jail.”

On January 23, 2012, Pierce County Sheriff’s detectives were contacted by a Federal Probation Officer who reported  that an offender under his supervision claimed he was propositioned by the defendant to help “get rid of” her husband. The defendant and her husband were going through a contentious divorce and she told the informant that her problems would all go away if her husband were gone. The defendant offered the informant $500,000, half of the payout on her husband’s life insurance policy, if he arranged to have the man killed.

Detectives set up covert surveillance and recorded several conversations between the defendant and the informant. He told her he had arranged for a “hit man” to come from out of state. They discussed how the death should look, ultimately agreeing on a “robbery gone bad” scenario.

On February 21, an undercover detective, posing as the “hit man,” met with the defendant. She gave him diamond earrings as a down payment for the murder, a photo of her husband, his physical description, and details of his daily schedule. Two days later Lofgren was arrested.