A Palm Beach County mother has been swept into the hands of law enforcement, accused of a diabolical plot to assassinate witnesses she believed instrumental in her teenage son's imprisonment. Josefina Cardona-Cardona, 43, allegedly sought to eliminate two individuals through a murder-for-hire scheme, offering $4,000 per hit to an undercover agent she thought was a gun for hire. This unexpected twist follows her son's sentencing for a fatal stabbing that occurred in June last year.
Cardona-Cardona's son, Manuel Marcos Cardona, confessed to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 19-year-old Andres Perez-Alvarado, and as per court documents, he was sentenced to 15 years. "He is subject to deportation following his sentence," said BocaNewsNow.com in a recent statement. The mother's drastic actions appear to stem from a narrative that the witnesses conspired against her child, leading to a conviction she could not stomach.
In a narrative akin to crime dramas, the situation spiraled as the mother was reported to show the undercover agent photographs of the witnesses, stating she wanted them dead. "She said both targets were responsible for her 16-year-old son being sent to prison for murder in February," according to a report from The Palm Beach Post. A voice undeterred by the gravity of the law, Cardona-Cardona's alleged words to the hitman echoed with cold intent: "think about it."
Her arrest came on the heels of an April tip from a confidential informant, which led to a meticulous sting operation by the PBSO. During a subsequent court hearing on May 7, Circuit Judge Donald Hafele denied the mother freedom, setting her bail at a steep $550,000 and withholding the right to weapons or contact with the victims. In a courtroom, justice often threads a narrow path between the scales and a heart grieving its broken kin; yet, the law stands clear and unyielding to sentiments straying into the bounds of vengeance.
Josefina Cardona-Cardona now faces two counts of solicitation to commit murder, with the ironies of her acts placing her at the mercy of the very system against which she raged.
