Baltimore Drug Dealer Chavez Sentenced in Murder-for-Hire Plot

Baltimore, Maryland — Rudy Adonaldo Chavez, 31, of Guatemala, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for a violent murder-for-hire scheme and distributing cocaine in Baltimore. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett handed down the sentence, which includes three years of supervised release, after Chavez admitted to plotting to kill a man tied to a deadly drug deal in Guatemala.

The case, prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, exposes a chilling cross-border vendetta fueled by drugs and retribution. According to court documents, on September 6, 2019, Chavez sold 2 ounces of cocaine to a confidential informant for $2,500 in a controlled operation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.

Just three days later, Chavez escalated from drug dealing to murder. During a monitored meeting, the undocumented immigrant solicited the informant’s help to kill a man he claimed had murdered two friends and shot his brother during a botched drug transaction in Guatemala. The intended victim had fled to California, and Chavez was determined to bring him to justice — his way.

On September 11, 2019, Chavez spoke directly with an undercover officer posing as a hitman. He laid out the plan: lure the victim from California to Baltimore using a co-conspirator, then carry out the assassination. Chavez agreed to pay $10,000 total — $5,000 upfront, $5,000 after the hit. He handed over the co-conspirator’s contact information and soon after wired $2,000 as a down payment.

Chavez deepened the conspiracy by providing the undercover officer with the victim’s phone number and a photo. Co-conspirator 1, who was fully aware of the plan, helped coordinate the trap. But the trap was already sprung — law enforcement used Chavez’s own intelligence to locate and detain the intended victim in California, stopping the murder before it could happen.

U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron commended HSI Baltimore’s investigation, calling the case a win against violent drug networks. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kim Y. Oldham and Christopher J. Romano prosecuted. Chavez now faces nearly a decade behind bars — not for the murder, but for conspiring to commit it, and for peddling poison on Baltimore’s streets.