A suspect who traveled from Maine to New York to assassinate a fictitious Manhattan businessman in exchange for $50,000 was indicted on one count of murder-for-hire, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced.
Hyunkook Korsiak, a 41-year-old man who was previously convicted in 2017 for theft from a licensed firearms dealer, was arrested last week by undercover FBI agents.
The Bureau of Prisons first intercepted communications in which Korsiak expressed his desire to be a hitman, prompting an FBI investigation in August 2022, prosecutors said.
Korsiak allegedly met with undercover FBI agents multiple times over the last two months and hatched the plan, which involved shooting and killing a businessman man at a hotel in Manhattan. Korsiak asked the agents for silencers for his guns and a latex mask to counteract facial recognition technology, according to the indictment.
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Last Wednesday, Korsiak traveled from Maine to Tarrytown, which is about 25 miles north of New York City, where he was handed $25,000 by an undercover agent. The agent told Korsiak he'd receive the other half of the payment after the fictitious businessman was dead.
Korsiak was arrested later that day. Two rifles, two handguns, a bullet resistant vest, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a latex mask, and latex gloves were seized from him.
Korsiak was previously incarcerated from January 2018 to November 2021 for the felony conviction of theft from a licenses firearms dealer. He faces up to 10 years in prison for the murder-for-hire count.
