A Chicago man charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill two witnesses in his son’s upcoming murder trial was sentenced Friday to 17 and a half years in federal prison.
Euripides Caguana, known as “Caca,” 61, was convicted on four counts of murder-for-hire in May after he allegedly called someone and asked that two individuals he believed were scheduled to testify against his son in a murder trial on Oct. 23 be killed by Oct. 19.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a cooperating individual told law enforcement that Caguana had called him seeking to have two individuals killed to prevent them from testifying against his 19-year-old son, who is facing multiple murder counts in connection with a 2011 drive-by shooting.
The individual and an undercover officer, posing as a hit man, engaged in a series of recorded conversations and meetings with Caguana, where he allegedly provided $500 to purchase a gun and offered to pay up to $7,500 to have the two individuals killed.
On Monday, Caguana met with the individual at a restaurant near Addison and Pulaski to discuss his plans for the murder, according to a federal complaint.
Caguana allegedly said he followed the two witnesses around to track their movements and provided the individual with printed out pictures of them along with his notes.
In a recorded phone call on Tuesday, the individual called Caguana to discuss meeting each other so he could give him money to buy the gun, the complaint stated.
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"I got dude [the hit man the CI was to arrange to commit the murders] on standby because he's ready," the individual told Caguana in the phone call. "You got em, right [the money for the gun and the information on the witnesses]?"
"Yeah, yeah we're gonna do it... we're gonna do it," Caguana responded.
At a park near Clark Street and Leland Avenue Wednesday morning, Caguana and the individual met with the "hit man" as law enforcement officers hid and watched.
Caguana allegedly provided details about what time the witnesses went to work and agreed to a $2,000 "down payment," according to the complaint, and said the other $5,000 would be paid after the first man was killed.
Murder-for-hire carries a maximum charge of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
