An online course coach who gained popularity online and on social media has been sentenced to a decade behind bars for a murder-for-hire scheme.
On Thursday, Ashley Grayson was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after being convicted of one count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Grayson and her husband, Joshua, were criminally indicted in July 2023 for the plot. Federal prosecutors alleged that the Mississippi-based couple contacted a contract killer in Tennessee between August and September 2022 and paid that individual to murder a person identified in the federal indictment as “D.H.” That individual was not harmed.
A jury found Grayson guilty in March. Her husband was cleared of wrongdoing.
She’ll serve out her sentence at a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas.
Grayson earned widespread popularity after reportedly making $1 million less than an hour after launching her online business, Digital Course Recipe, in 2021, through which she taught people to turn their passions into a profitable online course.
What furthered her online stardom was her lavish proposal to Joshua Grayson, which featured a performance from R&B singer Monica on a yacht. Videos and pictures of the event went viral, which earned the couple a massive social media following.
The year after their engagement, allegations started circulating that the success Ashley Grayson garnered from her online business was greatly exaggerated and that the money she made was actually from a worker’s compensation settlement after she lost a finger at an old job.
One woman accused Grayson of cheating her out of $2,000 after she bought the course.
In 2022, Grayson filed a defamation lawsuit against a financial coach named Derricka Harwell, alleging that a comment Harwell posted under one of Grayson’s Facebook posts was “false, defamatory, and injurious.”
The suit claimed that Harwell’s post “permanently damaged” Grayson’s personal reputation “online and around the world” and made people believe that Grayson “stalked and harassed” Harwell.
The Graysons have not commented publicly on the conviction or sentence. However, there were plenty of reactions online as updates from her case has been followed closely by online sleuths.
Wait! Have y’all been following this Ashley Grayson story?! Her and her husband were indicted by the FBI for racketeering and m*rder. 😳 pic.twitter.com/9twekeP1Fg
— Shadyyee (@chockietee) November 1, 2024
“They gave Ashley Grayson 10yrs. Her first baby is maybe 2. And she has an infant. I told my cousin she was a fraud and her spirit rubbed me the wrong way. My cousin told me I was a hatin btch then proceeded to buy her course and get scammed. Look how the mighty have fallen,” wrote one user.
They gave Ashley Grayson 10yrs. Her first baby is maybe 2. And she has an infant.
— Ramboesha🏁 (@CakeJustyce) October 31, 2024
I told my cousin she was a fraud and her spirit rubbed me the wrong way
My cousin told me I was a hatin btch then proceeded to buy her course and get scammed
Look how the mighty have fallen
One questioned if her sentence was too harsh since no one died. “Mfs overjoyed that ashley grayson got sentenced, mind you nobody died.. meanwhile they rejoicing that young thug is free, yet several people died by means of ysl gang violence…you can’t make this shit up smh,” vented the user.
Joshua Grayson recently opened a franchise location of The B-12 Store in San Antonio. The shop, which has multiple locations across the country, specializes in vitamin injections with board-certified nurses on-site.
