CANADIAN MAN SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR KIDNAPING AND MURDER FOR HIRE CONSPIRACY
BOSTON, Mass. - A Canadian man was sentenced yesterday in federal court for conspiring to commit kidnaping and murder for hire.
NICHOLAS DJOKICH, 59, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark L. Wolf to 20 years in prison for conspiring to kidnap and commit murder for hire with respect to a man he claimed had been involved in defrauding him of millions of dollars.
Evidence presented during DJOKICH’s trial in May and June showed that, in July 2008, an intermediary approached an ICE informant seeking his help in kidnaping, extorting money from, and potentially murdering a man in the Bahamas. The informant thereafter met with DJOKICH, and others, as DJOKICH solicited the informant to commit the kidnaping, extortion, and potential murder of the victim. The informant introduced an undercover agent to DJOKICH, and the undercover had several recorded meetings and conversations with DJOKICH, in which DJOKICH described his purported claim against the victim, sought to have the undercover kidnap and extort money from him, and, during a final meeting at Logan Airport on October 15, 2008, instructed the undercover that the victim was to be murdered at the conclusion of the kidnaping/extortion. Evidence at the trial showed that the victim, while tangentially involved in an investment DJOKICH had made, in fact had neither defrauded DJOKICH nor was responsible for any losses that DJOKICH sustained. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found DJOKICH guilty of both conspiracy to commit kidnaping and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. A codefendant, EGINARDO DEANGELIS, was acquitted of both charges.
In addition to sentencing DJOKICH to 20 years in prison, Chief Judge Wolf also sentenced him to five years of supervised release
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Bruce Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Criminal Division Chief James F. Lang Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Major Crimes Unit.
