A New York man who plotted to have a romantic rival murdered and fed to hogs will spend more than seven years in federal prison.
According to Western Journal, 58-year-old Jeal Sutherland of Colonie, a suburb of Albany, was sentenced to 87 months behind bars after attempting to hire what he believed was a Pennsylvania hog farmer to carry out the killing. Sutherland offered $1,000 and a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon as part of the payment, hoping the hogs would destroy the evidence of the crime.
Federal prosecutors said Sutherland was convicted of using an interstate commerce facility in a murder-for-hire scheme, a charge that underscores how modern communications technology can be twisted to facilitate violent crime. According to a Department of Justice news release, Sutherland used his cell phone to arrange the murder of a man who is the father of a child with Sutherlands then-partner, turning a domestic dispute into a calculated assassination plot.
The supposed hog farmer Sutherland believed he was dealing with was, in reality, cooperating with the FBI, a reminder that law enforcement still plays a critical role in deterring and exposing such schemes. The arrangement included not only cash and bourbon, but also the forgiveness of a loan, illustrating how casually Sutherland treated the value of human life in pursuit of personal revenge.
United States District Judge Mae DAgostino imposed a $15,000 fine in addition to the prison term and ordered three years of supervised release once Sutherland leaves federal custody. Such a sentence reflects a justice system that, at least in this case, is willing to respond firmly to premeditated violence rather than treating it as just another negotiable offense.
Jeal Sutherland thought he could order up the murder of his romantic rival right from his cell phone. Thanks to the hard work of FBI Albany and members of my office, Sutherland will now be dialing out from a federal prison for the foreseeable future, First Assistant United States Attorney John Sarcone III said. His remarks highlight both the brazenness of the plot and the importance of proactive federal enforcement in stopping violent crime before it is carried out.
The details of Mr. Sutherlands callous plans are deeply disturbing and prove he had every intention of ending a life. Instead, his vicious and intricate plot has landed him in federal prison, Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the Albany Field Office of the FBI, said.
This case clearly illustrates the FBI will work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to swiftly investigate and interrupt any individual looking to carry out such egregious acts of violence in our communities, he added.
Prosecutors said Sutherland admitted that in January 2025 he escalated his intimidation campaign by having an associate leave the carcass of a Canada goose on the doorstep of the intended victims mother. The dead bird carried a threatening note in its beak, a macabre warning meant to terrorize the family even before the planned murder.
Despite the elaborate planning, the intended victim was never harmed, thanks to the intervention of law enforcement and the undercover operation that exposed the scheme.
Sutherland was arrested in January 2025 and has remained in custody since, preventing the plot from moving beyond the planning stages.
According to the Albany Times-Union, Sutherland and the informant he believed to be a hog farmer spoke multiple times between November 2024 and January 2025 as they refined the details of the murder plan. Sutherland allegedly wanted the man to pick up the target after his release from state prison under the guise of offering him a job, then kill him and transport the body to the Pennsylvania farm, where hogs would consume the remains.
Court documents further alleged that a nun was to provide a van for the crime for $250, a bizarre detail that underscores how far Sutherland was willing to go and how many people he was prepared to involve. From the use of a cell phone to arrange a killing to the grotesque idea of hogs erasing the evidence, the case stands as a stark example of premeditated eviland of why strong, decisive law enforcement remains essential in protecting communities from those who would casually plot to take a life.
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