Gurpatwant Pannun Assassination Plot: US Court Delays Nikhil Gupta Sentencing To November 20

In a recent development, a US federal court has postponed the sentencing of Nikhil Gupta, who admitted to plotting the assassination of Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, until November 20. The Southern District of New York federal court had initially planned for Gupta's sentencing on September 25 but altered the date following a request from the "intended murder victim".

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The US government has now requested the delay in sentencing to allow Pannun to attend the hearing. While the specific victim's name is not disclosed in court records, Pannun's legal team has confirmed he is the targeted individual. In a letter submitted to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, prosecutors stated that the unnamed victim "wishes to participate in the sentencing" and therefore requested the September 25 hearing to be postponed because he would be abroad at that time.

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Judge Victor Marrero granted the request, rescheduling Gupta's sentencing to November 20 at 10 am. In 2023, Gupta pleaded guilty to three charges: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the assassination plot against Pannun. The maximum sentence for murder-for-hire is 10 years in prison, for conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire is also 10 years, and for conspiracy to commit money laundering is 20 years.

Gupta was apprehended in the Czech Republic on June 30, 2023, and later extradited to the US a year later.