VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — College education from Longview and VCU. Assistant manager with Amazon. No criminal history. Maybe not your classic profile for someone trying to get a hit man.
But that’s how Christopher Mavity described his background to Judge Kevin Duffan Tuesday morning, moments before Duffan sentenced him to two years for solicitation to commit murder.
Initially, Mavity was in jail for petit larceny, stealing alcohol from a Food Lion last April when he was 20. He didn’t know a fellow inmate was also a confidential informant.
They talked about killing Mavity’s acquaintance known as “Paco.” Mavity was released after just six days but had at least four more conversations with the would-be hit man.
According to Mavity, Paco had stolen Mavity’s gun and then used it to rob and attack him.
“That’s what Chris believes. He believes that he was robbed and his own gun was used against him,” said his court-appointed defense attorney Kristin Paulding. “He was jumped and he was hospitalized.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jason Kowalski said Mavity provided the confidential informant with the name, address, social media pages and description of his intended target. Kowalski said the ongoing conversations were all chances to back out of soliciting murder.
Mavity’s January plea agreement capped his sentence at five years. Judge Duffan said he had “extremely redeeming qualities” and gave him two years active time. After time served, Mavity has about 16 months left.
Both he and his attorney hope that can be done at the jail and not in the state prison system.
Mavity has spent the past seven months in jail and told the court that it’s been a “nightmare. I’ve been beaten profusely, sliced, and bitten. I don’t think I’d make it in prison”.
“The Department of Corrections is really a different animal.,” Paulding said.
Mavity told the Judge he wanted to apologize to Paco. “I let my emotions turn into something serious and malicious.”
For a purported murder-for-hire case, money wasn’t ever really discussed between Mavity and the confidential informant, according to his attorney. Paulding says the closest they got was Mavity offering to put $20 on the confidential informant’s canteen fund in the jail.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.