Ex-con caught wearing old-man mask in failed hit-and-run job
An old man’s mask and guns were found in connection with a man arrested in a murder for hire in New York on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (US Department of Justice images)
The $50,000 assassination attempt by a 41-year-old convicted gun thief was foiled this week when he learned his fellow planners were undercover FBI agents posing as gangsters and the intended target was a fictional businessman.
Hyunkook Korsiak was arrested in New York on Wednesday on a count of contract killing and a count of firearms possession after being convicted of a felony, the US Justice Department said.
“The defendant displayed a callous disregard for life and planned to commit his act of violence in the middle of Manhattan,” FBI Deputy Director Michael Driscoll said in a statement. “The FBI will not tolerate such acts of violence, and any person willing to callously kill another person must face the consequences in the criminal justice system.”
The case, which reads like a Netflix series, is documented in a federal criminal complaint accusing him of conspiracy to murder and being a felon in gun possession. Korsiak had previously served 52 months in federal prison after being convicted in Maine in 2017 of stealing from a licensed gun dealer.
The case was first reported to the FBI when the Federal Bureau of Prisons intercepted messages from Korsiak allegedly expressing his desire to kill someone for money.
Federal agents then arranged for an undercover officer to pose as “a member of a transnational criminal organization involved in money laundering, drug and arms trafficking, and various acts of violence, including murder,” the documents said
The complaint includes encrypted messages and videotaped meetings with the undercover agent in Battery Park, New York and Boston. According to the complaint, the suspect told the undercover agent that he wanted to “work for the organization” and engage in contract killings.
Korsiak reportedly said that although he lived in Maine, he was always available when needed for jobs.
The undercover agent told him he had a job. The requirement: “This person comes to New York and does not let his breath out.”
The defendant allegedly asked if the agent could provide information on the target’s location and itinerary while the intended victim was in New York.
“You just tell me where to go and what to do, and you know I can make that happen,” he said, according to court documents. He requested silencers and a police uniform for the hit, as well as a latex mask so he could defeat facial recognition technology.
He told the undercover agent he was considering using an AR-10 with a 20-inch barrel as a “long-range option” and requested the gun and .308 Winchester rounds, the complaint said. He also asked an agent if he could get M-84 flashbangs, the same ones used by the military and police to stun or incapacitate people as a distraction if necessary.
Korsiak also described approaching from a car and firing at the intended target while walking through Midtown Manhattan.
He had the plans, complete with a fictional photo of his intended target, and met with the undercover agent in New York on Wednesday night. The agent paid him $25,000 and said he would pay the other half after the job.
Agents arrested him just before 8:00 p.m. that night. He had a loaded 9mm Sig Sauer pistol in a black holster and the $25,000 in cash that the agent had earlier handed him.
In his car, agents found the guns, ammunition, and an owner-assembled ghost gun with no serial number.
Korsiak faces up to 10 years in prison for contract killing and 15 years in prison if convicted of possession of a firearm following a felony conviction.
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https://lawandcrime.com/crime/convicted-gun-thief-with-old-man-disguise-nabbed-in-foiled-50000-murder-for-hire-plot/ Ex-con caught wearing old-man mask in failed hit-and-run job
