Hitman sentenced to life in prison for Las Vegas murder-for-hire

Monday, Nov. 17, 1997 | 7:24 a.m.

Daniel Ray Bennett was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Wolfe said.

Bennett and Edward Stanley, a reputed South-Central Los Angeles drug dealer who hired Bennett for the killing, avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty in exchange for life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

In the plea agreement, Stanley, 59, admitted hiring Bennett and paying him to kill Rickey Ray Hall, who had allegedly stolen $300,000 from Stanley's heroin and cocaine ring.

Hall was shot to death Nov. 26 in Las Vegas. Arrests were made following some 30 wiretapped conversations detailing the murder plot.

On Monday, the judge rejected Bennett's request for a reduced sentence and made a legal finding that Bennett was the triggerman, Wolfe said.

A federal grand jury indicted 15 people in the case. A total of 10 have pleaded guilty to various drug or money laundering charges, including a third man involved in the murder plot.

Roy Lee Lovett Jr., 19, of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to murder for hire, Wolfe said. Stanley and Lovett were scheduled for sentencing Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, respectively. Four others are scheduled to go on trial Jan. 26.