A federal judge has sentenced a real estate developer and landlord, Arthur Raffy Aslanian, to 20 years in prison for attempted murder and conspiring to set fire to an apartment building in North Hollywood, California.
Aslanian, 55, was found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill his former lawyer and another man.
U.S.
Attorney Martin Estrada stated that the landlord had sought to eliminate two of his rivals through the murder-for-hire scheme, adding that he will now serve a well-deserved lengthy prison sentence.
Aslanian has been ordered to pay restitution and a fine in addition to his incarceration.
The former lawyer, who represented Mr.
Aslanian in a bankruptcy proceeding, was awarded $15,371 in restitution as part of the court’s ruling.
The attorney had billed his client for more than $261,000 in legal fees and expenses after winning a case for him.
In July 2022, Mr.
Aslanian allegedly discussed with his handyman, Sesar Rivera, the possibility of getting rid of the lawyer who had represented him in court.
At that time, Aslanian was being sued by one of his tenants, Shahram Elyaszadeh, after he tried to evict the tenant’s parents from their Brentwood home.
A former employee of Mr.
Rivera, Gaspar Pacheco, who had been released from prison and needed money, reportedly offered to kill someone for Rivera.
The price for both murders was set at $20,000, according to the U.S.
Attorney’s Office.
Although Pacheco agreed to participate in the murder plot, he secretly recorded a portion of his meeting with Mr.
Rivera and provided it to the police.
Authorities contacted both the lawyer and the tenant to warn them about the potential danger they faced.
The police also reached out to Mr.
Rivera, who agreed to cooperate with their investigation.
Mr.
Aslanian was arrested in September 2022 following a meeting with his handyman during which he was shown a staged murder photograph of Mr.
Elyaszadeh.
A five-day trial led to the jury finding him guilty on multiple charges, including use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire plot, conspiracy to commit arson, attempted arson, and arson of a building used in interstate commerce.
In another separate incident that occurred in March 2022, Mr.
Aslanian used Mr.
Rivera to pay someone to set fire to a rental property he owned in North Hollywood.
This was an attempt to force the remaining low-income tenants to vacate the premises.
A previous arson attempt at the same building had been unsuccessful.
Sesar Rivera pleaded guilty in March 2023 to one count of conspiracy and one count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
He is currently awaiting sentencing, expected to take place on July 8, and could face up to ten years in federal prison for each count.