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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA woman who admitted she conspired to kidnap and kill a family law attorney in Hamilton County was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison, the office of U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler announced Friday.
Renee S. Perillo, 54, of Glendale, California, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping. She was sentenced this week by Judge Richard Young in the District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis.
Federal authorities accused Perillo and her son, Richard, of targeting attorney Rebecca Eimerman in for hire in May 2015. Court documents said the Hamilton County Sheriff’s responded to a call from Eimerman’s home, where her husband had found the pair in the back of their SUV. Authorities said the mother and son possessed a gun and a syringe containing a paralytic substance.
Authorities said Renee Perillo’s motive for the planned kidnapping was to keep Eimerman from pursuing legal remedies against Perillo’s boyfriend, who court documents said was the ex-husband of one of Eimerman’s clients.
After the Perillos were arrested, they were released a short time later and became fugitives until June, when Richard was arrested in San Diego, California, and Renee was arrested in a small Montana town.
A few months later, Renee Perillo was accused of mailing a letter to an undercover FBI agent posing as a hit man. In the letter she sent in September 2015, authorities said she suggested that Eimerman be killed at an ATM to make it look like a robbery, according to the statement from Minkler’s office.
“This devious plot to murder and kidnap a victim is beyond any logical comprehension,” Minkler said in the statement. “Ms. Perillo will have many, many years in the Department of Corrections to think about her actions.”
Eimerman, who practices in Zionsville, did not immediately respond Friday to a message seeking comment.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Minkler’s office said Richard Perillo is scheduled to be sentenced on charges related to the conspiracy on Dec. 14 in Young’s court.
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