The Guyana-born Hudson Valley, New York bank manager who was charged with plotting to kill her brother-in-law while he holidayed in Guyana was last week sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, according to the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
According to State Attorney Damian Williams, Reshma Massarone had previously pled guilty to murder-for-hire before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, who imposed the sentence on her on August 27th.
Williams said: “The defendant devised a chilling plan to have a member of her own family murdered for the low price of ten thousand (US) dollars. Her plan was unthinkably heartless. For this depraved crime, Reshma Massarone will spend 114 months in federal prison.”
Stabroek News had reported last year that according to News 12 Westchester. Mascarone was caught on surveillance video sending a security guard she knew in the country US$2,500 in July last year as a down payment for the murder at a Western Union kiosk inside a Walgreens store in Orange County.
News 12 had obtained a copy of the unsealed federal complaint that included screenshots of the receipt, messages with the would-be hitman and transcriptions of recorded phone calls between the two.
According to the complaint, the murder was supposed to look like a robbery and was to take place on July 25 after Massarone paid a total of US$10,000.
The court document had stated that Massarone reached out to the would-be hitman on or about July 20 2023 by Facebook Messenger, asking him to kill her brother-in-law.
“You take care of business,” Massarone had written.
“I do hope that when we get rid of (target) for you, you don’t roll us over,” replied the security guard.
The authorities had said that the would-be hitman alerted Massarone’s brother-in-law to the plot and he then notified authorities, the report said.
Officials said they recorded a phone call with Massarone and the would-be hitman on the day of the intended murder asking her to clarify who she wanted killed. Massarone said not to hurt anyone else other than her brother-in-law and told the would-be hitman to delete her number to cover up the crime.
The US State Office in its recent statement on the sentencing said that as time passed and the intended victim remained alive, Massarone grew impatient with the security guard and urged him to murder the in-law, suggesting that “rat poison can do a great job.” She told the man, “You is all talk and no action,” and “Come on do the thing and I will take care of you.” She even threatened to find someone else to murder her brother-in-law, stating, “Either way, if I find somebody to do the job you’re going to get blame, so cut the bullshit and let’s get it done.”
In addition to the prison sentence the woman, 40, of Pine Bush, New York, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
Williams praised the outstanding work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York City Police Department, New York State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, and Internal Revenue Service.
The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Hoffman is in charge of the prosecution.
Massarone was a bank manager for a credit union in Hudson Valley.
