Boston man sentenced for murder-for-hire plot against ex-wife, her boyfriend
Mohammed Chowdhury, 47 (Credit: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts)
BOSTON - A Boston man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for trying to hire a contract killer to murder his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
Mohammed Chowdhury, 47, offered to pay a total of $8,000 to someone he thought was a contract killer, but who was actually an undercover federal agent, to have his estranged wife and her new boyfriend killed, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
His sentence also includes three years of supervised release.
Authorities were tipped off by an informant in November 2022 that Chowdhury was soliciting assistance to have his wife killed and the informant provided his phone number to law enforcement, prosecutors said.
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Chowdhury met with the undercover agent and agreed to pay $4,000 per killing, prosecutors alleged.
He provided the agent with photographs of his wife and the boyfriend, told them where they lived and worked, and provided their work schedules, prosecutors said. He was apprehended Tuesday when he allegedly paid a $500 deposit.
Chowdhury told agents his wife wouldn’t let him see his children and he wanted the killings to look like a beating and robbery, prosecutors said.
"Anyone willing to hire a hitman to kill a once beloved family member and her new boyfriend is clearly a danger to the community," Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, said in an online news release.
"Mr. Chowdhury literally thought he could get away with murder," Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said. "Mr. Chowdhury’s disturbing conduct – in combination with the misogyny and dehumanization he expressed in trying to carry out this plot – speak volumes about how dangerous he is. This case represents the most extreme form of domestic violence and we will use all tools at our disposal to protect women in abusive relationships."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.