A Lawrence woman pleaded guilty Thursday to trying to hire a hit man to kill her ex-boyfriend in exchange for $120 worth of crack cocaine. In reality, the person she was trying to hire for the killing was an undercover federal agent who had been tipped off about her plans by an informant.

Krista M. Harris, 20, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Topeka to one count of using a telephone to negotiate the hired murder of Malcolm Glover in early December 2005. She is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 30 and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Harris admitted making statements that she wanted to kill Glover because he’d robbed her of drugs and cash at gunpoint and because she was afraid of him.

The tip was first passed on to a member of the Independence, Mo., drug squad by an acquaintance of Harris who also had been an informant in Jackson County, Mo. It was relayed to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and eventually to Lawrence Police.

The ensuing sting involved an arranged meeting with Harris in the parking lot of a local Dillons grocery store. Harris went as far as giving the agent an amount of crack known as an “8-ball” before she exited his vehicle and was arrested.

“An undercover agent posing as a contract killer repeatedly offered to beat up Ms. Harris’ former boyfriend instead of killing him,” U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren said in a statement. “Ms. Harris repeatedly declined and said she wanted the man dead.”