Man sentenced in murder-for-hire plot tied to religious leader

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – An Afghan man was sentenced to more than 8-years in federal prison for conspiring with a religious leader in Lexington to kidnap and kill another man in a murder-for-hire plot, according to prosecutors.

The man, known as “John” Sadiqullah, was sentenced to 106-months on Thursday in Lexington, according to prosecutors.

Sadiqullah believed a man owed him a lot of money and after failed attempts to get it back, he contacted Lexington imam Mahmoud Shalash for help, according to prosecutors.

Shalash put Sadiqullah in touch with a man named Thomas Smith, who had been involved in a money-laundering scheme with Shalash, according to investigators.

Shalash introduced Sadiquallah to Smith and told him Smith was “an individual who could collect debts by any means necessary,” according to prosecutors.

What the two men didn’t know, Smith was an FBI informant.

Sadiqualla and Smith agreed to kidnap the man who supposedly owed Sadiqualla money, or his son; and then, if necessary, kill the man, according to prosecutors.

Sadiqualla eventually found the man in Lexington, cornered him at the man’s place of business and called Smith to carry out the plan.  Smith reported this to the FBI, at which time the man and his son were taken into protective custody and Sadiqualla was arrested, tried and convicted.

Another man who was charged with Sadiqualla, Abdul Hadi, was acquitted after a joint trial in February of this year, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Mahmoud Shalash was sentenced in June of this year to two years in prison and five years of supervised release, including one year of home incarceration, for conspiring to commit kidnapping and committing money laundering, according to federal prosecutors.