Dalia Dippolito Released From Florida Jail On Bond
Dalia Dippolito, the Florida newlywed convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her husband, has been released from jail on a $500,000 bond.
Dippolito, 28, walked out of the Palm Beach County Jail today and went to her mother's Boynton Beach home, where she will be on house arrest pending an appeal of her trial.
"We have been working very hard to get her out and today is the day she walked out," Dippolito's attorney, Michael Salnick, told The Huffington Post.
"She can visit me in my office [and] she can go to a doctor. Otherwise she has to be at home absent any further court order," he continued.
In June, a Palm Beach County jury convicted Dippolito of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
Dippolito's conviction stems from a 2009 plot she hatched to hire a hitman -- actually an undercover Boynton Beach police officer -- to kill 38-year-old Michael Dippolito, her husband of six months.
The Boynton Beach Police Department became involved in the case after they were contacted by a confidential informant who claimed to be a former lover. The informant told police that Dippolito wanted her husband killed because she had spent approximately $200,000 of his money. The informant also said Dippolito was afraid of the retaliation she might face if she divorced him, police said.
When authorities launched the undercover investigation, they had the informant meet with Dalia Dippolito at a local gas station. According to the police, during the meeting she gave the informant a down payment of $1,200 and provided photos of her husband and their home.
In the days that followed, Dippolito met with the undercover police officer who was posing as the hired hitman. During the encounter, which was secretly videotaped, the undercover agent asked Dippolito whether she was sure she wanted her husband killed, and she responded, "I would be very happy." She then agreed to pay him $3,000 when the job was done, police said.
On Aug. 5, 2009, Dippolito was at a local gym when she received a phone call from police requesting her presence at her house. Upon arrival, she found her townhouse encased in crime scene tape and a crime scene tech dusting the front door for fingerprints. A detective escorted her to a waiting sergeant who informed her that her husband was dead.
Brought to the police department, Dippolito came face to face with the man who had supposedly shot her husband twice in the head. It was then that she learned that the hit man was actually an undercover police officer and that her husband was alive and well.
DALIA DIPPOLITO CASE PHOTOS (ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Speaking about Dippolito's crimes, Palm Beach County Judge Jeffrey Colbath called her "pure evil" and sentenced her to 20 years in prison. In August, the same judge granted her permission to post bail as she seeks to appeal the conviction.
Salnick does not think his client received a fair trial because a key witness, Dippolito's former lover Mohamed Shihadeh, was allegedly unavailable to testify because he was arrested in Boca Raton for DUI. The appeal, however, won't happen anytime soon, the veteran attorney said.
"The appellate process can take two years," Salnick said. "I do know the transcript in this case is tremendously long and the court reporter has already asked for at least one extension to get it together."
When asked if his client was happy to be out, he told HuffPost, "I think anyone would be."
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First Posted: 09/13/11 02:35 PM ET Updated: 11/13/11 05:12 AM ET