A Manteca man has pled guilty to his involvement in a sinister murder-for-hire plot, as confirmed by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. The man, 48-year-old Jagninder Singh Boparai, admitted to planning the assault on one victim and the murder of another, utilizing interstate commerce facilities for the ill-fated contract.
Documents from the court reveal that Boparai, along with accomplices Ramesh Kumar Birla Jr., 45, of Dublin, and Shaminderjit Singh Sandhu, 51, of Tracy, planned to execute a murder of a person referred to as Victim 2. Boparai's scheme began to unravel in a Starbucks in Manteca back in February 2023, when he met with who he believed was a hitman to discuss the assault on Victim 1, and ultimately the murder of Victim 2. In a twist unanticipated by the conspirators, the supposed hitman was a confidential informant working for the FBI, as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The plot further thickened in March of the same year, when, during a staged meeting, Boparai handed over $1,000 as a down payment for the assault of Victim 1, and not long afterward, $10,000 as a down payment for the murder of Victim 2. A staged photo showing Victim 1 beaten and bloodied was shown to Boparai, who expressed satisfaction with the image, indicating the lengths the defendants were willing to go in their criminal endeavors.
On March 24, Boparai was covertly observed in a Manteca parking lot, while Birla and Sandhu met with the informant to finalize plans for Victim 2’s murder, instructing the informant to make it appear as though Victim 2 had vanished without a trace. It was suggested that the remains be transported to Mexico in a suitcase, further implicating the trio in the grisly schematics of their plotted crime, according to details from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities arrested all three defendants on March 31, 2023, and they have since been held in federal custody. The investigation involved a wide net of agencies including the FBI and ATF, among others. Boparai is set for sentencing on May 8, 2025, where he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Birla and Sandhu's status conference is forthcoming on April 10, 2025.
