Nikhil Gupta tells court he planned Gurpatwant Pannun assassination plot alone, prosecutors seek 24 year jail term

Nikhil Gupta, who pleaded guilty to charges tied to a foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, told a US judge he acted alone and regrets his decision. Prosecutors seek a sentence of just over 24 years, while his lawyers are asking for about 12 years.

Nikhil Gupta, the alleged Indian smuggler accused of plotting the assassination attempt on Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has told a US judge that he plotted the operation alone. In a letter to the US district judge Victor Marrero ahead of his sentencing on November 20, Gupta said he regretted the decision.

What Nikhil Gupta told New York judge

“I wish I could turn back time to 2023 and undo my mistakes. Now, when I look back, I don't even recognise the man I had become. In early 2023, even though my life looked just fine from the outside, I was a mess. I was not me,” Gupta said in the letter.

Gupta, who was detained in the Czech Republic and later extradited to the US to face trial, said he had contemplated suicide.

“When I first got arrested, I had suicidal thoughts flashing through my mind continuously, and every night I contemplated ending my life so I would not wake up the next morning. But at the same time, I was thinking about my family-my kids, my wife, my mother and my cats and how I had already caused them so much pain. I deeply regretted the suffering I caused them and the people around me,” he said.

Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in February

In February, Gupta pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to three federal charges related to a foiled plot to assassinate the Sikh separatist leader. He admitted guilt to all three counts brought against him by the U.S. Department of Justice:

Murder-for-hire carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison while conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, which also carries up to 10 years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering carries a maximum of 20 years.

Prosecutors seek 24 years in jail

According to Hindustan Times, prosecutors have urged the judge to sentence Gupta to 293 months, or just over 24 years. Gupta's lawyers, on the other hand, are seeking a much shorter term of 144 months, or roughly 12 years.

According to the US Department of Justice, Gupta was recruited in 2023 by an Indian government employee, Vikash Yadav, to arrange the assassination of Pannun, a dual US-Canadian citizen based in New York. The alleged murder plot was exposed after Gupta attempted to hire a hitman for $100,000, unaware that the contact was an undercover US federal agent. Gupta arranged for an associate to deliver a $15,000 cash advance in Manhattan and shared Pannun's personal details and surveillance photos.

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