Post Falls adult film actress charged with attempted murder for hire

Federal agents arrested a Post Falls adult film actress Wednesday morning at Spokane International Airport on charges that she tried to hire someone to kill a person.

Katrina L. Danforth, 31, who makes films under the name Lynn Pleasant, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a federal hold based on an indictment that was handed down Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho.

She is charged with five counts of using interstate commerce in the “commission of murder for hire.”

Four of the charges stem from Danforth’s alleged use of a telephone and one count relates to her use of the mail in an attempt to hire someone to kill a victim identified in court papers only as “R.H.,” according to court records.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan, who is based in Coeur d’Alene, confirmed Wednesday that the intended target, who lives in Idaho, was not harmed.

Danforth appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rodgers and indicated she was not able to afford her own lawyer.

She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. However, Whelan said Danforth apparently has no prior felony convictions, which means she likely would face less prison time if convicted.

Whelan said she could not elaborate on the nature of the crime or the victim out of caution for the victim’s safety and because that person could soon be moving.

At the hearing Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Goeke asked Rodgers to keep Danforth in jail because of a “serious risk of flight and danger to the community.”

Federal Public Defender Molly Winston asked Rodgers for a detention hearing at 1:30 p.m. Friday, which Rodgers scheduled.

Rodgers also ordered Danforth to be held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending the Friday hearing. After her appearance, marshals transported Danforth back to the Spokane County Jail.