Euripides Caguana Sentenced to 17+ Years in Prison for Plotting to Kill 2 Potential Witnesses in His Son’s Murder Trial

A Chicago father who offered to hire a hit man to execute two potential witnesses in his son’s murder trial was sentenced to 17 and a half years in federal prison.

EURIPIDES CAGUANA, 61, sought the killings of two men he believed would testify against his son in his upcoming murder trial. Caguana paid $500 to an undercover individual to purchase a gun, and he offered the individual up to $7,500 to have the two witnesses killed.

A jury in May convicted Caguana on four counts of murder for hire. U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin imposed the 210-month sentence in federal court in Chicago.

“The defendant’s conduct strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Salib argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Without witnesses, criminal cases can never be judged on the merits of the evidence.”

Caguana’s son, Travis Caguana, is charged with murder in the Circuit Court of Cook County in connection with a fatal drive-by shooting of a man on June 8, 2011. In October 2013, a cooperating individual notified law enforcement that Euripides Caguana had called him seeking to have two men killed to prevent them from testifying against Travis Caguana. Over the course of a few days, the cooperating individual and an undercover police officer—posing as a hit man—engaged in a series of secretly recorded meetings and conversations with Euripides Caguana.

During one of the meetings, Euripides Caguana provided the cooperating individual with $500 to purchase a gun, and he offered to pay up to $7,500 to have the two potential witnesses killed. He is heard on a recording telling the individual, “I want both of them, both of them.”

Caguana was arrested on Oct. 17, 2013, and the murders for hire were never carried out.

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Euripedes "Caca" Caguana Charged with Federal Murder-for-Hire

A Chicago man was charged today with federal murder-for-hire after he was arrested yesterday without incident by FBI agents and Chicago police officers. The defendant, Euripedes Caguana, also known as “Caca,” 59, of Chicago, allegedly wanted to have killed two individuals he believed were scheduled to testify against his son, who is awaiting trial on murder and related charges in Cook County Circuit Court.

Caguana appeared this morning in U.S. District Court and remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing at 11:30 a.m. next Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole.

According to the charges, a cooperating individual told law enforcement that Caguana had called him seeking to have two individuals killed to prevent them from testifying against his son. During the next couple of days, the cooperating individual and an undercover officer, posing as a hitman, engaged in a series of recorded conversations and meetings in which Caguana allegedly provided the cooperating individual with $500 to purchase a gun and offered to pay up to $7,500 to have the two individuals killed.

Murder-for-hire carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must determine a reasonable sentence to impose under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The arrest and charges were announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter S. Salib.

A criminal complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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