• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for ESSENCE Newsletters the keep the Black women at the forefront of conversation.

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
Select the newsletters you'd like to receive:
Please select at least one option.
By clicking Subscribe Now, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Celebrity

Nelly's Producer Faces Fraud Charges With ‘Sweetie Pie's’ Murder-For-Hire Suspect

Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam is facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
Nelly Producer Faces Fraud Charges With ‘Sweetie Pie’s’ Murder-For-Hire Suspect
By Keyaira Boone · Updated December 6, 2020

After Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s star James Timothy Norman was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of his own nephew Andre Montgomery, now another man is being charged for fraud in connection the 2016 incident.

The U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis said Thursday that Norman is also facing separate charges after a grand jury indicted him and Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam on accusations of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, reports the Associated Press. Yaghnam was one of the producers on Nelly’s multi-platinum selling album Nellyville, released in 2002. 

Norman’s alleged accomplice, an exotic dancer by the name of Terica Ellies of Memphis, was also charged in the plot to kill 20-year-old Montgomery, the grandson of Robbie Montgomery, on March 13, 2016. The elder Montgomery, who is the mother of Norman, owns the popular St. Louis Missouri restaurant Sweetie Pie’s and starred in the OWN reality show that follows the show until it went off air in 2018 after nine seasons.

“5419463511001”

An official criminal complaint in the murder-for-hire case states that Norman took out a $450,000 life insurance policy on the younger Montgomery two years prior to his murder. He was the sole beneficiary of this policy.

In the charges announced Thursday, prosecutors claim that Yaghnam and Norman made false statements on those life insurance applications for Montgomery, allegedly lying about the 20-year-old’s income, network and other financial information.

According to U.S. Attorney’s Office, Norman and Ellis are being charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire, resulting in death.

‘Sweetie Pie’s’ Murder-For-Hire Possibly Caused After $200K Stolen From Robbie Montgomery’s Home
James T. Norman

Ellis and Norman allegedly communicated through burner phones and it was on one of those phones that Ellis called Norman immediately after finding out that Montgomery had been killed. The authorities found that her phone was near the location where Montgomery was shot at the time of the murder.

Following the call, Ellis took off for Tennessee. Shortly after the murder took place, she started to deposit a total of $9,000 in cash across various bank accounts. 

On March 21, 2016, a few days after the murder, Norman began inquiring about the process of collecting his settlement for Montgomery’s demise with the life insurance company.

TOPICS:  James Timothy Norman nelly sweetie pies Terica Ellis
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now