A federal judge sentenced a Massachusetts attorney to 10 years in prison for paying a hitman to murder his ex-wife.
Allen Gessen, 49, was convicted of murder for hire after evidence revealed he tried to hire an undercover FBI agent he believed was a contract killer to murder his former partner and the mother of his two kids, Priscilla Chigariro.
He and Chigariro were embroiled in a long-standing dispute that would lead to contentious child custody proceedings, federal prosecutors stated.
Gessen’s murder plot began to take shape in the summer of 2022 when he started meeting with the undercover agent and sharing details of his crumbling, co-parenting relationship. He thought the agent was a hitman with extensive government connections, which he desired to use to dispense with Chigariro and get full custody of his kids.
Gessen originally plotted to have Chigariro illegally deported from the U.S. and wanted to pay the agent $100,000 to set up the deportation. Then, he realized murder was a “cheaper way to get rid of her” and was a more permanent solution.
He admitted to the agent that he made one previous attempt to hire someone to kill Chigariro. Prosecutors said he paid for a hit team from a foreign country to travel to Massachusetts, conduct reconnaissance, and surveil her. When the team told him it would cost another $210,000 to commit the murder, Gessen called it off.
Gessen paid the undercover agent a $25,000 deposit in the form of a gold coin worth $2,000 and a $23,000 payment wired to a bank account in San Francisco. He planned to pay another $25,000 once the murder had been executed. He set up a written agreement with the agent detailing phony “consulting services” to mask the true nature of the funds, then sent the agent details about his former partner’s whereabouts, schedule, and lifestyle habits.
A federal grand jury indicted Gessen in July 2022. At the time, he was a licensed attorney in New York. Chigariro said she was shocked when FBI agents arrived at her home after Gessen was charged.
“I can’t even begin to explain how I felt in that moment,” Chigariro said in a January 2023 video series on YouTube telling the story of her marriage. “All I remember was this feeling of — I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like I stopped feeling anything. I was so confused. I could not digest it. I couldn’t understand it. It was refusing to sink in.”
In the five-part vlog series, Chigariro said she and Gessen lived in Zimbabwe, where she modeled for a time, and Russia when they were together. She indicated that the relationship was abusive and recalled one time when Gessen hit her so hard that she “passed out.” There were also extended periods when Gessen would keep her son away from her.
After a one-week trial in May 2023, a federal jury found Gessen guilty. Once he has completed his prison term, he’ll serve three years of supervised release.
