A man currently serving a 22-year sentence for drug trafficking in Florida is facing new charges stemming from the alleged orchestration of a witness's murder. Samuel Wright, 37, has been accused of arranging the killing of Mugen Pintar, who was prepared to testify against him in 2022, according to ClickOrlando.
Mugen Pintar was fatally shot at his home on May 15, 2022, the day before Wright's trial was to start. He suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and succumbed to his injuries a few weeks later. The investigation has led to charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder for Wright. Despite the significant lead time up to Pintar's death, law enforcement only recently pieced together Wright's alleged involvement in the crime, which was notably executed while he was behind bars, as per the court documents.
"(Pintar) was at the home with his children and his wife, and it's just a heinous crime," Lt. Mireya Iannuzzi of the Ocoee Police Department Criminal Investigations Division remarked regarding the murder, according to a WESH 2 interview three years ago. Further details disclosed by law enforcement state that Wright may have paid as much as $40,000 to have Pintar killed, to derail his impending drug trafficking case by removing the critical witness.
Court documents reveal that Wright negotiated the hit's price with Jamarcus Lane, who was supposedly promised $40,000 for the job. Lane was apprehended in March, and officers seized over $37,000. Authorities believe Lane to be the one who carried out the shooting, based on information from the arrest affidavit shared by WESH.
The ongoing investigation into Pintar's murder has been thorough, involving confidential informants and the monitoring of Wright's communications, including calls made from contraband cell phones. According to law enforcement, Wright discussed the planning and execution of the murder while using coded street language. These recorded conversations have been critical in directing the police towards solidifying Wright's role in the conspiracy to kill Mugen Pintar, a key witness in the 2020 drugs case against him.
