Man traveled 300 miles with latex mask and ammo in plot to kill businessman, feds say

A man wasn’t shy about his wish to kill another person for money in a message ultimately intercepted by law enforcement, federal prosecutors said.

Then, the opportunity was presented to Hyunkook Korsiak, 41, of Augusta, Maine — and he accepted it, according to prosecutors.

Korsiak agreed to travel over 300 miles from Maine to kill a New York City businessman in exchange for $50,000, officials said. He thought the opportunity came from a transnational criminal organization, but it was an FBI set-up, according to court documents.

To coordinate the murder of the businessman — who didn’t actually exist — Korsiak met with undercover FBI agents in January and February and asked for, and was provided with, a realistic, latex mask so he could “defeat facial recognition technology” and disguise himself, prosecutors said.

Korsiak was arrested by the FBI on March 8 when he traveled from Maine to Tarrytown, New York, with the rubber mask, two AR-15 rifles and two other guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a bulletproof vest and more in preparation for the murder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Now he’s facing a murder-for-hire charge, according to prosecutors.

“(Korsiak) was willing to travel over three hundred miles in order to fulfill his depraved desire to be paid for taking another human’s life,” FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said in a statement.

When Korsiak’s attorney Raymond Gazer was asked if he’d like to comment on the matter, Gazer told McClatchy News in a statement that “we will allow the facts to play out in a court of law rather than the court of public opinion.”

The case comes after Korsiak was convicted in federal court in 2017 on a charge of theft from a licensed firearms dealer, prosecutors said.

The FBI’s investigation of Korsiak

Korsiak’s message expressing his desire to participate in a murder-for-hire plot was intercepted by the Bureau of Prisons and the FBI was alerted, prosecutors said.

The agency began investigating him in August, according to an amended complaint filed in court.

In December, an undercover FBI agent pretended to be a member of a transnational criminal organization and messaged Korsiak over Telegram about his desire to kill for money, the complaint says.

During a meet-up in January, Korsiak told the agent he wanted to work for his organization and carry out murders-for-hire, according to the complaint.

Then, the agent presented him with the fake opportunity that entailed a person coming to New York who “doesn’t leave breathing,” the complaint says.

“You just tell me where to go and what to do and you know I can make that happen,” Korsiak told the agent in agreeing with the plot for $50,000, according to the complaint.

Korsiak believed that his target, the (fake) businessman, would be staying at a hotel in Manhattan, one of New York City’s five boroughs, prosecutors said. He’s accused of planning to shoot the businessman from inside his car in the streets of Manhattan.

In addition to requesting the latex mask to hide his face, Korsiak also asked undercover agents for weapon silencers, according to prosecutors.

He’s also accused of planning to use a police uniform to help him escape law enforcement following the murder, prosecutors said.

If convicted on the murder-for-hire charge, Korsiak faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the release.

He’s also facing a charge of possession of a firearm following a felony conviction, prosecutors said. He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on that charge.

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