Three men have been charged in a $350,000 murder-for-hire plot targeting Iranian nationals who had fled to the United States.
Naji Sharifi Zindashti, 49, who has ties to the Iranian government, is accused of recruiting Canadian citizens Damion Patrick John Ryan, 43, and Adam Richard Pearson, 29, to murder two Maryland residents.
The men allegedly used an encrypted messaging service called SkyECC from December 2020 to March 2021 to recruit people who would travel to the United States to carry out the murders.
They discussed at length the identities and whereabouts of their targets, planned to carry out the murders and negotiated payment for completing the “job,” according to the indictment filed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
The alleged victims had previously fled to the United States after one of them defected from Iran.
While both Ryan and Pearson were from Canada, Pearson lived in Minnesota to avoid murder charges in his home country. He was arrested in July 2021 and extradited the following year.
Two Canadians and an Iranian national (Naji Sharifi Zindashti, 49, pictured) have been charged with an assassination attempt against Iranian nationals who fled to the United States
Local media in Iran have outlined Zindashti's alleged ties to the government militia, which allegedly supports his drug cartel
In January 2021, the men discussed getting a job in the United States, with Ryan noting that it would be challenging but that he “might have someone to do it.”
He informed Pearson, a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang with a checkered criminal past, about a “job” in Maryland.
Pearson explained, “Shooting is probably the easiest thing for them” and that he was “into it.” Ryan advised, “Two guys go with the right equipment.”
Pearson said he would encourage recruits to shoot the potential victim in the head, explaining: “We need to remove his head from his torso.”
Later that month, Zindashti messaged Ryan asking for an update. Ryan said he was “making things right” and demanded money.
A few days later, Zindashti told Ryan that his organization was ready to move forward with the plan.
Zindashti and Ryan agreed to pay $350,000 in addition to $20,000 to cover costs.
After Zindashti introduced Ryan to a person identified in the indictment as Co-Conspirator 1, Ryan stated, “We have a four-man team ready.”
The unnamed co-conspirator sent Ryan information about the potential victims, including their pictures and a map with their known address.
Co-conspirator 1 also facilitated a payment of $20,000 to Ryan to cover travel expenses.
Zindashti, Ryan and Pearson are charged with one count of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities to commit murder-for-hire.
Pearson is also charged with possession of a firearm by a fugitive from justice and possession of a firearm by an alien who is in the United States illegally.
Zindashti currently lives in Iran and local media have outlined his ties to the government militia, which is said to support his drug cartel.
The Iranian national allegedly recruited Canadians Damion Patrick John Ryan, 43, and Adam Richard Pearson, 29, for the plan. Both men have extensive criminal records
The men were charged with one count of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities to commit murder-for-hire, and Pearson was charged with two additional charges related to possession of a firearm
Sources report that in addition to paying bribes, the 49-year-old also supplies opium and heroin to senior officials in Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
An investigation by Iran International found that its gangs smuggle more than 20 percent of the drugs distributed throughout the country and about 35 percent in the capital Tehran.
Both Canadian suspects are already in prison.
Ryan is awaiting trial in Manitoba for various crimes. In February 2022, the 43-year-old was hiding in a luxurious Ottawa home that once belonged to members of a Canadian criminal organization.
Police conducted a search and recovered a dozen illegal handguns, several high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a device that could convert a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic pistol. Many weapons were loaded.
Ryan was charged with four firearms-related charges, one count of possession of a magazine for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of ammunition for a dangerous purpose.
The three men spoke on an encrypted messaging app called SkyECC from December 2020 to March 2021 as they planned how to carry out the murders and negotiated payment for completing the “job.”
These added to charges from a 2018 investigation in which Ryan was one of 22 people charged in connection with international shipments of firearms and drugs.
The 43-year-old has an extensive criminal history spanning multiple provinces. In 2015, he was charged with drug trafficking in Ontario.
In 2016, he pleaded guilty to two counts of human trafficking and one count of possession of stolen property and was sentenced to three months in prison.
A decade earlier, in 2005, he was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with a home invasion involving a marijuana grow operation.
Pearson is awaiting trial after being charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Alberta man Cody Michaloski.
A Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued against the 29-year-old in 2020. He was arrested by the FBI in Minneapolis in 2021 and extradited in February of the following year.