Upstate New York resident confesses to devising a 'contract killing' plan linked to a pig farm.
A Man From Upstate New York Owns Up to a Grisly Plot
Jeal Sutherland, a 57-year-old resident of Colonie, New York, openly admitted to orchestrating a deadly scheme, known as a "murder-for-hire." Sutherland intended to eliminate a man, who was the father of a child shared with Sutherland's former partner.
Details of this chilling plan were spilled between November 2024 and January 2025. Sutherland, driven by romantic rivalry, lined up a hit with someone he owed a debt to, agreeing to forgive the debt. To make things even more macabre, he planned to bribe an undercover FBI agent - whom he believed to be a pig farmer - to dispose of the victim's remains on their Pennsylvania farm, with pigs consuming the body.
Adding another layer of intimidation, Sutherland hired another man to place a dead Canada goose with a threatening note on the doorstep of the victim's mother.
Although Sutherland's plans didn't go as intended, his actions couldn't be further from innocent. He was taken into custody on January 27, 2025, and since then, he's been behind bars. With sentencing set for September 22, Sutherland faces up to 10 years in prison, a hefty fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release for up to three years.
In a statement, Craig L. Tremaroli, FBI Special Agent in Charge, expressed his relief, stating, "Mr. Sutherland's diabolical plot intended to violently end a man's life and intimidate his family. Thanks to the swift actions taken by FBI Albany and our law enforcement partners, that plan never came to fruition."
Sutherland's attorney, Andrew Safranko, shared that his client's intentions were misguided but never malicious. According to Safranko, the intended victim had a tumultuous history with Sutherland's ex and child, leading to Sutherland's desperate plan to safeguard his loved ones. However, Safranko admitted that Sutherland's strategy was regrettable.
The investigation and subsequent prosecution for this case were conducted by the FBI's Capital District Safe Streets Gang Task Force, with the assistance of the Colonie Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua R. Rosenthal and Joseph S. Hartunian are handling the case[1][2][3][4].
[1] https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/colonie-man-pleads-guilty-murder-hire-plot[2] https://www.news10.com/2022/01/27/colonie-man-accusd-of-hiring-hitman-to-kill-father-of-his-child/[3] https://www.fox5ny.com/news/man-from-upstate-new-york-pleads-guilty-in-murder-for-hire-plot-to-feed-victim-to-pigs[4] https://www.cbsnews.com/ny/news/jeal-sutherland-charged-murder-for-hire-plot-upstate-new-york/
In spite of his attorney's claims, Jeal Sutherland's actions, which involved orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot and placing a dead Canada goose with a threatening note, were far from innocent. His case, entangled in war-and-conflicts of romantic rivalry and personal vendettas, has been ongoing in politics and general news, with Crime-and-Justice authorities pursuing him for debt owed to a third party.
