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Boston man pleads guilty to attempting a murder-for-hire plot
Mohammed Chowdhury had already paid someone to commit the murder of his wife and her boyfriend, but they didn’t follow through.
A Boston man pleaded guilty Thursday in a murder-for-hire plot after telling undercover agents he would pay $8,000 for them to kill his wife and her boyfriend, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said.
Mohammed Chowdhury, 47, pleaded guilty to two counts of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire on Jan. 25.
According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a person notified law enforcement in November 2022 that Chowdhury was looking to have his wife murdered and had already paid someone to carry out the murder, but they never followed through.
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“Chowdhury subsequently told the individual that he needed the murder done as soon as possible and that he would get the money to do so, even robbing a store if necessary to obtain the funds,” the press release read. “The individual provided Chowdhury’s phone number to law enforcement, who thereafter used an undercover agent posing as a contract killer to communicate with Chowdhury about his murder-for-hire plot.”
In December 2022 and January 2023, Chowdhury met with undercover agents posing as the contract killer and associates. Chowdhury told the agents that his wife wouldn’t let him see his children and that he wanted the agents to rob and beat his wife and her boyfriend, whom she left him for.
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According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Chowdhury asked the agents, “So how we gonna disappear his, uh, body?” and stated that he wanted there to be no evidence that he had a part in the murder.
Officials said Chowdhury provided the undercover agents with photographs of his wife and her boyfriend, where they lived and worked, and their work schedules.
Chowdhury unknowingly met with undercover agents again on Jan. 17, 2023, to provide them with a deposit of $500 of the $4,000 he agreed to pay per murder. He confirmed he wanted the murders committed and was immediately taken into custody.
Chowdhury was indicted by a federal jury in February 2023 and has remained in custody since his arrest, the press release stated.
Chowdhury was previously charged in Boston Municipal Court with violating an abuse prevention order prohibiting him from abusing, contacting, or coming within a certain distance of his wife, officials said.
“Mr. Chowdhury’s callousness and disregard for human life is shocking,” U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in the announcement. “Not only did he ignore the restraining order filed against him by his wife, he sought to have her and her boyfriend killed.”
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A screenshot of a text conversation between Chowdhury and another person included in the press release shows him agreeing to pay $4,000 to get the “job done” and saying he would borrow money from his friend to get the money necessary.
Chowdhury is scheduled to be sentenced April 23. He is facing up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
“This case is a stark reminder of the heinous nature of domestic violence and its potential to escalate into unthinkable acts,” Levy said. “Violence, especially within the confines of domestic relationships, has no place here in Massachusetts, and we will use every available resource to ensure the safety of those at risk.”
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