BOSTON – An inmate pleaded guilty today in federal court in
Boston in connection with a murder-for-hire scheme.
Mason Stickney, 21, of Byfield, pleaded guilty to three
counts of using a facility of interstate commerce in the commission of
murder-for-hire. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled
sentencing for June 13, 2019. Stickney was indicted in November 2017; he is
currently in state custody on unrelated charges.
In October 2017, Stickney, who was in custody at the Essex
County House of Corrections, approached a fellow inmate and solicited his
assistance in the murders of a police officer, a restaurateur from New
Hampshire and a student. The fellow inmate reported Stickney’s solicitation to
authorities. Thereafter, at the request of investigators, the inmate provided
Stickney with the phone number of a would-be hitman, who was actually an
undercover agent.
In recorded conversations between Nov. 3 and Nov. 8, 2017,
both on the phone and in person at the jail, Stickney described to the
undercover agent the individuals he wanted killed and how he wanted the murders
committed. Stickney promised to pay the undercover agent $10,000 upon his
release from jail, as well as to “get rid of three people for you guys.”
Each charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 10
years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S.
Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R.
Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Boston Field Division; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett;
Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and
Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger made the announcement. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Robert Richardson of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the
case.
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