New York, February 14 – Nikhil Gupta dramatically admitted in federal court that he participated in a plot to hire someone to kill, bringing the trial against him to a close without the need for witness testimony or the presentation of evidence by prosecutors.
Gupta, who was accused of plotting against a Khalistani leader, pleaded guilty to three charges on Friday: hiring someone to commit murder, conspiring to commit that crime, and money laundering.
This was a reversal from his previous stance in court in 2024, when he had claimed innocence.
Without a trial with evidence presentation and witness testimony, as the defense lawyers would try to challenge, the case will now proceed directly to sentencing.
The target of the plot is believed to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, although the prosecution has only stated that he is “a US citizen of Indian origin” who “is a vocal critic of the Indian government and leads a US-based organization that advocates for the secession of Punjab” and the creation of a “Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan.”
Gupta made the admission before Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, rather than Judge Victor Marrero, who was presiding over the case.
Magistrate judges do not preside over trials and handle other matters related to cases, so the final sentencing decision will return to Marrero.
The proceedings took place in a small courtroom, not the main courtroom where Marrero was presiding.
Gupta is being held at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, where former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is also held.
He was brought from there to the federal court near Wall Street in Manhattan.
He was dressed in the standard jail uniform and was released by US Marshals before being escorted into the courtroom through a side door.
Khalistanis were present in the courtroom spectator section.
Netburn asked Gupta, “How do you plead to the three charges?”
He replied, “Guilty.”
The magistrate judge then asked, “Tell me what you did?”
Gupta, explaining his guilty plea, said, “In the Spring of 2023, I agreed with another person to hire someone to kill a person in the US. I delivered $15,000 in cash by phone to a person in the US.”
Before accepting the guilty pleas, Netburn turned to the prosecutors and asked for evidence.
One of the assistant federal prosecutors said, “Testimony from a confidential source, an undercover officer who operated as the intended assassin,” and “WhatsApp and text messages, bank records, and a video of the cash payment made to the undercover agent.”
Marrero is expected to sentence Gupta on May 29, when he could face a maximum penalty of ten years in prison for each of the two murder-for-hire charges, and 20 years for the money laundering charge, according to the prosecutors.
In most cases where the accused plead guilty, they receive lower sentences.
In Gupta’s case, there was no agreement on a lesser punishment, as the prosecutors presented the court with a letter outlining the maximum penalties under the law, which he was made aware of.
Prosecutors offered Gupta a plea deal in October, but he did not follow through, which lapsed.
Prosecutors accuse Gupta of working with Vikash Yadav, a former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant seconded to the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Prosecutors declared him a co-defendant with Gupta and Yadav, who is in India and out of reach of US authorities who have filed charges against him here.
The Indian government has denied any involvement in the case and has charged Yadav in 2023 in an unrelated case with extortion and abduction of a businessperson in India.
That case is ongoing, and in August, a Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant for his arrest.
US officials described Gupta as an “international narcotics and weapons trafficker” who, allegedly, entered the plot to gain leniency from Indian law enforcement.
The US prosecutors allege that Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the murder-for-hire plot, and Gupta approached a person he thought was a criminal to find a hitman.
But the person was actually a confidential source or informant working with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The informant introduced Gupta to an undercover DEA officer, telling him that the officer was a hitman for hire.
Prosecutors said Gupta agreed in June 2023 to pay the undercover officer $100,000 to carry out the murder.
Yadav and Gupta, prosecutors said, arranged for an associate to give the officer $15,000 as an advance.
The transaction, as well as other interactions between those involved in the plot, were recorded, the prosecutors said, and the information was presented in the chargesheet.
Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and was extradited to the US in June 2024.
