*After over 17 hours of deliberation, a federal jury in St. Louis has found James “Tim” Norman, the former star of “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” guilty of arranging the shooting death of his nephew.
Norman had been charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The nephew, Andre Montgomery, also was featured on the long-running OWN reality show about a St. Louis-based popular soul-food business founded by Robbie Montgomery — Norman’s mother and Andre’s grandmother.
Fortunately for Norman, prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty but he could be sentenced to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Dec. 15.
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Prosecutors won their case by convincing the jury that Norman, 43, hired two people to kill the 21-year-old Montgomery on March 14, 2016, then tried to cash a $450,000 life insurance policy taken out on his nephew months earlier.
Defense attorney Michael Leonard said after the verdict that he and Norman were “extremely surprised and disappointed in the outcome” of the case. He said they plan to appeal and that Norman continues to be optimistic that he will eventually prevail.
Leonard said the testimony during the trial of two co-conspirators was shown to be “extremely non-credible.” And he said Norman testified well during the trial, noting he was not cross-examined.
U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming said she was “very, very pleased” with the verdict but that her office would make no further statements until after the sentencing.
During closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Angie Danis said Norman was the architect of the plan to kill Montgomery.
“This plan doesn’t exist but for Tim Norman’s greed,” Danis said.
Leonard argued in his closing argument that the murder plot presented by prosecutors was a “made up theory.”
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