Courtesy- SDIN Twitter
INDIANAPOLIS – A Shelbyville man has been sentenced to over four decades in federal prison after he tried to hire a hitman to kill a child abuse victim and her mother.
Robert Mason Elliott, 28, will spend 520 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of murder for hire, witness tampering, illegally possessing a firearm, and producing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Court documents say Elliot was charged with domestic battery of a minor and barred from having contact with her. In violation of those orders, Elliott tried to deliver heroin to the minor when she was home with her mother. Elliott was charged with dealing narcotics in Shelby County. During the investigation, officers also discovered that Elliott had produced and distributed child sex abuse material of the minor on Facebook.
While incarcerated in the Shelby County Jail in 2018, Elliott used a jail phone to instruct his mother to hire a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club to kill the minor’s mom to prevent her from testifying against him. Elliott’s mother hired the Hells Angel in exchange for $500. The jail calls between Elliott and his mother, as well as the calls and texts to the Hells Angel, were recorded and intercepted by law enforcement officials.
After his first attempt failed, Elliott engaged in two more murder-for-hire plots from inside Shelby County Jail. Elliott’s repeated efforts to have his victim and her mother murdered were unsuccessful.
On May 7, 2019, Elliott was indicted in federal court for offenses related to child exploitation and illegal firearm possession.
On June 14, 2022, Elliott pleaded guilty to two counts of Murder for Hire, two counts of Witness Tampering, and one count of a felon in possessing a firearm. Elliott further stipulated in a plea agreement that he had produced and distributed child sex abuse material.
