Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Taking Alleged Hit Fee

BEVERLY HILLS — A Santa Monica police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he posed as a contract killer and pocketed the $7,500 hit fee.

Bail was reduced from $100,000 to $50,000 for Officer Kenneth Maurice Scott, 41, who faces charges of conspiracy to defraud another of property, grand theft and possessing stolen goods. Scott must submit to electronic monitoring after posting bail.

Scott, using the assumed name Lorenzo Wright, agreed to carry out a contract killing for Sheila Holden Hamilton, 42, then revealed himself to be a police officer and pocketed the money, prosecutors say. Hamilton had allegedly embezzled $33,000 from the Beverly Hills bank where she worked, and wanted Scott to murder the man whose savings account she pilfered.

Hamilton faces charges of soliciting murder and grand theft. Cynthia Lockhart, who allegedly introduced the two, faces the same charges as Scott. All three are to appear in Beverly Hills court March 10.