The Colorado Springs woman who attempted to hire a hit man to kill her ex-fiancé was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to two charges.

Unknown to Vanessa Lavaty, 33, the hit man was an undercover Colorado Springs detective, according to an affidavit obtained by The Gazette.

Lavaty, who originally faced three charges of attempted first-degree murder, tried to arrange a hit on Timothy Hanes three days before a shared custody hearing over their 2-year-old daughter was scheduled, the affidavit states. She was sentenced Thursday in 4th Judicial District Court.

Four months before trying to arrange the hit, Lavaty asked her then-boyfriend, Marty Jorgenson, 50, for help

finding a person to kill Hanes. As time went on, she made comments such as, “I want his (expletive) buried,” and “I really want this (expletive) dead,” according to previous reporting by The Gazette.

A detective who testified at Lavaty’s preliminary hearing in August 2022 said police began investigating after Jorgenson came to the Colorado Springs Police Department on May 16, 2022, concerned about Lavaty’s requests.

That same night an undercover officer posing as a hit man arranged to meet with Lavaty and Jorgenson at a Taco Bell in east Colorado Springs, where prosecutors say Lavaty agreed to pay him $4,000 to kill Hanes.

The detective who posed as the hit man testified that he “gave her opportunities to not move forward with it.”

In August, Lavaty’s attorney informed the court that a plea deal had been accepted that would see Lavaty plead guilty to two charges: attempted manslaughter and retaliation against a witness or victim.

At the August hearing Judge William Moller informed Lavaty that she would be facing a minimum of four years in the Department of Corrections with a maximum potential sentence of 16 years.

According to court records, Moller opted to issue Lavaty a prison sentence of nine years — six years for pleading guilty to retaliation against a witness or victim and three years for pleading guilty to attempted manslaughter.

Court records show Lavaty was granted 16 days credit for time served.

Prior to her conviction she had previously been out of custody on a $75,000 bond.