A man pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire plot in which he intended to feed the victim’s remains to hogs. Jeal Sutherland, 57, pleaded guilty to using an interstate commerce facility in a murder-for-hire scheme aimed at a man living in the Albany, New York, area, a charge for which he could face up to ten years in prison.
Sutherland entered his plea on Wednesday in federal court in northern New York.
According to court documents, Sutherland attempted to arrange the murder of a man who has a child with her ex-partner. As part of his plan, Sutherland agreed to forgive the debt of the person hired to carry out the killing. Sutherland also contacted someone he thought was a hog farmer, intending to pay him for the use of his farm to dispose of the victim’s remains by feeding them to the hogs.
However, court documents show that the farmer was an undercover FBI agent. Sutherland was arrested in late January, and the intended victim was unharmed.
Sutherland had also hired a different man to deliver a dead Canada goose with a threatening letter in its beak to the intended victim’s mother, according to the Justice Department.
“Jeal Sutherland hatched a vicious plot to kill a romantic rival and intimidate his victim’s family,” US Attorney John A. Sarcone said in a statement.
In addition to prison time, Sutherland could face a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 22, 2025.
