U.S. Court Accepts Guilty Plea in Murder-for-Hire Case; Sentencing Set for May 29

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nikhil Gupta has been formally convicted in a U.S. federal court after a judge in Manhattan accepted his guilty plea in a murder-for-hire conspiracy targeting a Sikh separatist leader in New York, a case that carries a potential sentence of up to 40 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on February 17 issued an order accepting Gupta’s plea after reviewing the transcript of his allocution before Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. Gupta, 54, admitted under oath last week that he agreed in the spring of 2023 with another individual to have a person in the United States murdered.

During the hearing, Gupta told the court that he delivered $15,000 in cash to another individual in the United States using cellular phone communications. He acknowledged that he knew the intended victim was located in New York, specifically in Queens, and that the payment recipient was in Manhattan.

Gupta pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Federal prosecutors formally requested that Judge Marrero accept the plea in a filing submitted the same day.

With the court’s order entered, Gupta’s conviction is now official and the case has moved into the sentencing phase.

Under federal law, Gupta faces up to 10 years each for conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire, along with up to 20 years for conspiracy to commit money laundering, for a combined statutory maximum of 40 years.

Prosecutors, however, noted that federal sentencing is governed by advisory Sentencing Guidelines rather than statutory limits alone. In a pre-plea Pimentel letter, the government calculated an advisory sentencing range of 235 to 293 months in prison.

The court emphasized during the plea hearing that the guidelines are advisory and that the final sentence will be determined solely by Judge Marrero after review of a Presentence Investigation Report.

Sentencing has been scheduled for May 29 at 10 a.m.

Gupta confirmed in court that he is an Indian citizen and acknowledged that his guilty plea is likely to result in removal from the United States. The government’s sentencing submission stated that removal is presumptively mandatory for non-citizens convicted of such offenses. (Source: IANS)