Lawndale woman sentenced to nine years in murder-for-hire plot

A Lawndale woman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison in a murder-for-hire plot targeting a man who was dating her daughter, authorities said.

Adelina Cristobal’s intention to kill her daughter’s boyfriend with the help of a friend, Antonio Quevedo, was uncovered by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives when an informant tipped off investigators. Authorities say Cristobal was offering to pay several thousand dollars for the slaying.

In addition to prison time, Cristobal will also be under three years’ supervised parole upon her release.

Cristobal, 56, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder for hire.

ATF investigators arranged for an undercover Los Angeles Police Department detective to pose as the hired “hit man” to meet with the defendants, who offered the undercover officer $6,500 to kill the intended victim.

Cristobal told the undercover detective she wanted her daughter’s boyfriend to disappear with no trace back to her. Cristobal was to pay Quevedo an additional $500 for arranging the meeting.

“Had the government not been able to infiltrate the conspiracy, [Quevedo] may well have found a willing assassin to murder the victim and successfully collected his broker’s fee,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

According to an affidavit in the case, Cristobal said she wanted the victim killed because he owed her money, he was romantically involved with her daughter and he had threatened her husband, causing him to have a minor stroke. Cristobal told the undercover officer that she wanted photographic proof that the killing was done.

Cristobal told investigators she intended to target the victim because of his relationship with her daughter, but claimed she meant only to have him beaten up, the affidavit said.

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richard.winton@latimes.com