Pocatello man sentenced for attempting to hire someone to beat his wife
A Pocatello man is going to prison for 30 months after he called across state lines and planned to have his wife beaten.
John Kent Davis, 66, of Pocatello, was sentenced Wednesday for interstate communication of a threat of bodily injury, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge sentenced Davis to 30 months in prison, three years supervised release, a $5,000 fine, and he was ordered to forfeit $2,500 in cash proceeds. Davis pleaded guilty on May 13, 2016.
The plea agreement states on July 29, 2015, Davis placed a telephone call from the state of Idaho to the state of Utah for the purpose of soliciting the physical beating of the victim. During the call, Davis spoke with an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent. Davis asked the undercover agent to badly beat the victim in a way that was “short of permanent” and a “pretty explicit display of hatred.” Davis told the undercover agent he wanted photographs to prove the victim had been beaten. Davis paid the undercover agent $2,500 to beat the victim.
The case was being investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force (NIVCTF).
