St. LOUIS (AP) — The former reality TV star from St. Louis “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for arranging the shooting of his nephew to collect on his life insurance.
James “Tim” Norman did not speak on his own behalf at a sentencing hearing in the killing of his 21-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr., in March 2016. Both men starred in OWN’s long-running reality show about the soul of the family. Food businesses in the area of St. Louis.
Norman’s lawyers sent several letters from family and friends asking for leniency, including Norman’s mother and Sweetie Pie restaurant founder Robbie Montgomery.
Paras Griffin via Getty Images
“I don’t know if Tim did what he was charged and convicted of,” wrote Robbie Montgomery, who is also the victim’s grandmother. “He’s still the child I gave birth to and I love him like any involved mother loves her child.”
Prosecutors said Norman took out a $450,000 life insurance policy on Montgomery and arranged to lure him to a street in St. Louis, where another man shot him.
Several family members of Andre Montgomery, including his mother, Michell Griggs, called for Norman to be sentenced to life in prison, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross sentenced him to two life terms, calling it “an incredibly premeditated and cold-blooded planned execution of your nephew.”
Norman was convicted in September of conspiracy to commit murder for money, murder for money and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Travell Anthony Hill admitted to shooting Montgomery in exchange for $5,000. Collina, 31, from St. Louis, was sentenced in October to 32 years in prison. Terica Taneisha Ellis, now 39, of Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting Norman paid her $10,000 to find Montgomery and tell Hill where he was.
A fourth person, insurance agent Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam, was sentenced to three years in prison for helping Norman fraudulently apply for multiple insurance policies and file a claim on the life insurance policy Montgomery’s.
I’m a passionate and motivated journalist with a focus on world news. My experience spans across various media outlets, including Buna Times where I serve as an author. Over the years, I have become well-versed in researching and reporting on global topics, ranging from international politics to current events.