Woman accused of hiring hitman has prison release denied

SANDUSKY — A 71-year-old woman was so distraught how her former son-in-law treated her daughter it led her to make a mistake that could land her in a federal prison cell for the rest of her life.Sandra Haughawout, of Milan, was arrested in June after she allegedly tried to hire a hit man to kill her daughter's ex-husband. The man turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. She gave him $8,000 to carry out the plot. She has been held in a federal prison in from a Napoleon, Ohio, since her arrest. She took a guilty plea on Oct. 1 to one count of solicitation to commit a crime of violence. She is set to be sentenced Feb. 4 and faces between 12 and 20 years in prison. A federal judge denied Haughawout a temporary release late last month. Judge James Carr, of Toledo's U.S. District Court, said he didn't believe the conditions of release proposed by her attorney were enough to ensure the safety of her intended victim.In a Nov. 11 court motion, Haughawout's attorney, David Klucas, of Toledo, asked Carr to release Haughawout so she could see her family before her sentencing, which he described as a likely "life sentence," given her age.Klucas asked for Haughawout's release on these conditions:• She would be placed on electronic monitoring and have curfew and home confinement restrictions• She would post a $300,000 bond• She will complete a mental health assessment• She would have no contact with the victimIn his denial of the motion, Carr pointed to remarks purportedly made by Haughawout in an interview with FBI agents after her June 2017 arrest, in which she allegedly said she was "not sorry" for the plot and she wished the would-be victim was dead."The evidence to which the (prosecutors) point … shows the defendant's remorse on arrest was not that the murder had been avoided, but that it had not occurred," Carr wrote. "That fact, plus the evidence of long-standing desire to have the intended victim killed, persuade me that the defendant's antipathy is at least borderline pathological, and likely has not diminished."Carr wrote that he didn't think Klucas' proposed release conditions were enough to protect Haughawout's former son-in-law."Given the fact she potentially faces the equivalent of a life term … she could well conclude she had nothing to lose by attempting to fulfill her original intent and plan," he wrote.Carr also said that while he understands Haughawout's desire to be with her family before her sentencing, he had to put the safety of the intended victim first.The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office.Neither Haughawout nor her family members have provided any information, publicly, about what the former son-in-law might have done that led her to seek someone to kill him. Several people have contacted the Register saying they know Haughawout and were extremely surprised by her arrest. They also said her family suffered atrocious behavior from the former son-in-law. Reach reporter Brandon Addeo at brandonaddeo@sanduskyregister.com, follow him on Twitter @BrandonAddeo and follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterSandra Lee Haughawout