Three individuals, including an Iranian and two Canadian nationals, have been indicted by the US Department of Justice for allegedly conspiring to carry out a murder-for-hire scheme against two people in Maryland. The indictment reveals that the individuals used the encrypted messaging service “SkyECC” to plan the details of the murders and negotiate payments for their execution. The victims were Iranians who had previously fled from Iran and were living in Maryland.
The indictment demonstrates a pattern of Iranian groups attempting to carry out murders on US soil, according to Assistant Director Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. The FBI is committed to pursuing these individuals until they are brought to the US to face justice.
The accused individuals, Naji Sharifi Zindashti from Iran, Damion Patrick John Ryan, and Adam Richard Pearson from Canada, allegedly conspired with each other between December 2020 and March 2021. They discussed the job in Maryland, with Pearson suggesting that shooting the victims would be the easiest method. Pearson also mentioned erasing the victim’s head from his torso to make an example.
Zindashti and Ryan agreed on a payment of $350,000 to complete the job, with an additional $20,000 for expenses. Zindashti introduced Ryan to a co-conspirator, bringing the team’s total to four people. The co-conspirator provided Ryan with $20,000 to cover travel expenses. All three individuals are charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Pearson faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a fugitive from justice and possession of a firearm by an alien unlawfully in the US.
Ryan and Pearson are currently incarcerated in Canada on unrelated charges, while Zindashti resides in Iran. The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by the FBI, with assistance from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In addition to the indictment, the US Treasury Department has taken action against Zindashti’s criminal network, which targeted Iranian dissidents and activists for kidnapping and assassination at the direction of the Iranian regime. Zindashti and his associates are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving US individuals or taking place in the US.
The charges and actions send a clear message to those plotting murders on US soil and their criminal collaborators: the Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue them and deliver justice.
