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CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Federal judge sentences California man to 9 years for role in murder-for-hire plot
A federal judge sentenced a California man to nine years in prison for his role in a 2023 murder-for-hire plot, prosecutors announced Thursday. Jagninder Singh Boparai, 49, of Manteca, had been convicted of conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of California said. Boparai was among three men who conspired to murder another man they were involved in a dispute with, court records show. The other two co-conspirators were 47-year-old Ramesh Kumar Birla, Jr., of the Bay Area city of Dublin, and 51-year-old Shaminderjit Singh Sandhu, of the Central Valley city of Tracy. Prosecutors said that, in February 2023, Boparai met with someone he believed to be a hitman at a Starbucks in Manteca. That individual was actually a confidential informant for the FBI. Boparai told the individual that his first job was to assault a different person the trio also had a dispute with, to prove his trustworthiness. Once complete, Boparai said he would give him another job. The day after that meeting, the two met again, with Boparai offering the informant $6,000 for the assault. That March, Boparai met with the informant again, this time accompanied by Birla and another individual. Prosecutors said Boparai gave the informant $1,000 as a down payment for the assault. At a later meeting, the informant showed Boparai a staged photo depicting the supposed assault, with the victim lying on the ground covered in blood, dirt and bruises. Prosecutors said Boparai told the informant he liked the photo and offered two more jobs — one being a commercial robbery and the other involving making a person "disappear." "This defendant met on five separate occasions with a person he thought to be a hitman and provided payments for the services he desired in order to 'teach a lesson' to two of his enemies," U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said. "Fortunately, there was no hitman, and today's sentence teaches a lesson that the U.S. Attorney's Office will use all its tools to bring to justice those who endanger the safety of the public." Later that March, Boparai gave the informant a $10,000 down payment for the hit, while Sandhu provided the informant with the victim's address. Prosecutors said Boparai told the informant the victim needed to disappear without any evidence. Sandhu and Birla met with the informant on March 24, 2023, instructing him to kill the victim and take his remains to Mexico in a suitcase, prosecutors said. Boparai, whom Sandhu and Birla told the informant was out of town, was observing the meeting from a nearby car. Exactly one week later, Boparai, Sandhu and Birla were arrested and have remained in federal custody ever since. Sandhu has previously pleaded guilty to the same charge as Boparai. He is set to be sentenced in November and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Charges remain pending against Birla. He is next scheduled to appear in court in October.
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Yahoo
FBI takes down Northern California man in shocking murder-for-hire plot
( — One of three people connected to a murder-for-hire plot in Northern California pleaded guilty on Friday for conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities as part of the plan to kill someone, according to the United States Department of Justice.•Video Above: How to report a public safety threat Court documents revealed that Shaminderjit Singh Sandhu, 51, of Tracy, conspired with Jagninder Singh Boparai, 49, of Manteca, and Ramesh Kumar Birla Jr., 47, of Dublin, to murder someone referred to as Victim 2. In February 2023, the three of them repeatedly met with a person they believed to be a hitman at a Starbucks in Manteca. Guest becomes a millionaire after massive win at a Northern California casino Unbeknownst to Sandhu and his co-defendants, the hitman was a confidential informant working for the FBI, according to the DOJ. On Feb. 17, 2024, Boparai told the supposed hitman that the first job involved the assault of someone referred to as Victim 1, and once he proved his trustworthiness, he would be given another job. The following day, the DOJ said Boparai met the confidential informant again and offered to pay $6,000 for the assault of Victim 1. In March 2023, in the presence of Birla and another individual, Boparai met with the confidential informant, and Boparai gave the confidential informant $1,000 as a down payment for the assault. Sacramento police arrest teen for murder after two-month investigation Shortly after, the confidential informant showed Boparai a staged photo of Victim 1 lying on the ground covered in bruises, dirt, and blood to indicate the assault had occurred. Boparai said he liked the photo and told the confidential informant that he had two other 'jobs,' one of which involved robbing a business, and the other involved making a person 'disappear.' According to court documents, after what Boparai thought was a successful assault on Victim 1, he met with the confidential informant to pay him $10,000 as a down payment for the murder of Victim 2. Sandhu provided Victim 2's address, and Boparai instructed the confidential informant that Victim 2 must disappear without any evidence remaining. Sacramento International Airport sets all-time passenger record, busiest month in history Boparai then made two calls to Birla asking for Victim 2's Facebook profile. Boparai subsequently received a Facebook profile picture of Victim 2, which he showed to the confidential informant, according to the DOJ. On March 24, 2023, Sandhu and Birla met with the confidential informant in a parking lot in Manteca. Sandhu and Birla claimed that Boparai was out of town, but Boparai was observed by surveillance remaining in a car in the same parking lot. The DOJ said Sandhu and Birla instructed the confidential informant to kill Victim 2 and take Victim 2's remains to Mexico in a suitcase. All three defendants were arrested on March 31, 2023, and are currently in federal custody. On Friday, Sandhu pleaded guilty. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13 and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Boparai pleaded guilty for his role in the offense on Jan. 23, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 7. He faces the same penalties as Sandhu. Birla, however, is facing allegations. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
