NYS man headed to prison for trying to hire hog farmer to kill love rival, feed him to pigs
An upstate New York man was sentenced Tuesday to more than seven years in prison for attempting to hire a hit man to kill his girlfriend’s ex and feed him to pigs—for $1,000 and a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon.
Jeal Sutherland, 58, believed he could arrange the murder of his romantic rival using only his cell phone. However, the supposed hit man was actually an undercover FBI agent. “Jeal Sutherland thought he could order up the murder of his romantic rival right from his cell phone,” said John Sarcone, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. “Thanks to the hard work of FBI Albany and members of my office, Sutherland will now be dialing out from a federal prison for the foreseeable future.”
According to prosecutors, Sutherland first devised the plan in November 2024, offering $1,000 and a bottle of bourbon for the killing. He instructed the hit man to dispose of the victim’s body at a Pennsylvania hog farm.
In January 2025, Sutherland escalated his threats by leaving a Canada goose carcass on the intended target’s mother’s doorstep. It wasn’t until his arrest on Jan. 27, 2025, that he discovered his “hog farmer” had been an FBI agent monitoring his plot.
Sutherland pleaded guilty in May 2025 to using an interstate commerce facility in a murder-for-hire scheme. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 7¼ years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine.
“Mr. Sutherland’s callous plans are deeply disturbing and prove he had every intention of ending a life,” said Craig Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany office. “Instead, his vicious and intricate plot has landed him in federal prison. This case clearly illustrates that the FBI will work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to swiftly investigate and interrupt any individual seeking to carry out egregious acts of violence in our communities.”
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