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Florida Man Sentenced for Conspiring to Murder Foreign National
A Florida man has been sentenced to 110 months in prison for producing and selling potentially deadly toxins ricin and abrin for use as weapons, and conspiring to kill a woman in the United Kingdom.
Jesse William Korff, 20, of Labelle, Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan on Aug. 12, 2014, to an information charging him with five counts of developing, producing, transferring and possessing toxins, five counts of smuggling toxins and one count of conspiring to kill a person in a foreign country.
Korff was arrested in Florida on Jan. 18, 2014, following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI of Korff’s sales of toxins through an underground, Internet-based marketplace known as “Black Market Reloaded” (BMR).
“Jesse Korff peddled his poison in a shadowy, online network favored by cybercriminals,” said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. “He also offered guidance on its effective use, and his sentence today appropriately took account of his participation with an overseas customer in an attempted murder plot. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to intercede before Korff could conclude his deadly transaction.”
This sentence should serve as a warning to those who capitalize from the use of underground websites such as BMR,” said Special Agent in Charge John P. Woods of HSI. “HSI will maintain its unrelenting commitment to protecting our land borders as well as virtual borders from individuals like Korff. Anyone who mistakenly thinks that they can get away with these types of crimes by hiding in the endless depths of the internet must know that HSI will seek them out and bring them to justice.”
Korff acquired abrin and ricin, potentially lethal toxins, through an underground internet-based marketplace, so they could be used for deadly purposes,” said Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark Division. “Thankfully, with the coordinated efforts of our law enforcement partners, and the tactical and technical expertise of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, he was intercepted and his potentially deadly threats did not become a reality.”
The investigation began in April 2013, when HSI special agents in Newark launched an investigation of illicit sales activity on BMR. The website provided a platform for vendors and buyers to conduct anonymous online transactions involving the sale of a variety of illegal goods, including biological agents, toxins, firearms, ammunition, explosives, narcotics and counterfeit items.
From August 2013 through January 2014, Korff maintained a seller’s profile on BMR under the moniker “Snowman840.” Korff advertised the sale of deadly toxins and provided his prospective purchasers with information about quantities necessary to kill a person of a given weight, along with instructions on how to secretly administer the toxin so as to avoid suspicion by law enforcement officials.
On at least one occasion in December 2013, Korff agreed to produce, and ultimately provided, a quantity of abrin to a purchaser in London who intended to poison and kill an individual she claimed was her mother. After the purchaser’s receipt and administration of the initial dose, which was ineffective, Korff agreed to provide a second quantity of the toxin in order to assist the purchaser in the implementation of the murder plot.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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