Man sentenced in connection with Sweetie Pie’s murder plot

ST. LOUIS –

A former St. Louis insurance agent was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for helping a one-time reality TV star fraudulently obtain life insurance on a relative later shot to death in a murder-for-hire conspiracy.

Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam, 44, pleaded guilty to federal charges in July, admitting he conspired with James Norman on the policy on Norman’s nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr.

Norman and Montgomery both appeared on OWN TV’s “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” a reality show set in a restaurant founded by Montgomery’s grandmother. It ran five seasons starting in 2011.

Montgomery, 21, was killed in 2016 by Travell Anthony Hill, who said he was hired by Norman. Hill pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to murder-for-hire and was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

Norman, 43, was convicted in September of murder-for-hire and fraud charges. Sentencing is in March.

The policy contained a $200,000 accidental death rider that would pay out if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes, and a $50,000 term rider that would pay if Montgomery died within 10 years of the policy’s issuance.