Story posted Monday, April 27, 2009
Des Plaines Man Convicted In Murder-For-Hire
A Des Plaines man was convicted of federal murder-for-hire charges for soliciting the murder of his business partner in a Lyons excavation company, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced Monday.
A jury deliberated for four hours on Friday before finding the defendant, Robert Mandel, guilty on six counts of murder-for-hire, following a week-long trial in U.S. Dist. Court.
Mandel, 63, remains in federal custody without bond pending sentencing, which was set for July 28 before U.S. Dist. Judge William Hibbler. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, will determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed.
Evidence at the trial showed that Mandel had plotted between August and December 2008 with an individual who was cooperating with law enforcement to solicit the murder of his partner, Konstantinos Antinou, in G & D Excavating, Inc., of south suburban Lyons. Mandel had sued Antinou in Cook County Circuit Court earlier last year. He wanted Antinou killed so he could take over the business and sell its heavy equipment, which was worth between approximately $500,000 and $800,000, according to evidence. Mandel had wanted Antinou to be ambushed and shot dead as he entered his home in a western suburb, the trial showed.
Mandel first approached an individual in August 2008 and offered to provide a gun to have Antinou killed. That individual contacted a Chicago Police Dept. detective, and the CPD then contacted the FBI, whose Chicago Violent Crimes Task Force carried the investigation forward.
Over the next several months, the cooperating individual conducted a series of recorded conversations with Mandel in furtherance of Mandel's scheme to hire someone to murder Antinou, resulting in Mandel's arrest on Dec. 4, 2008.
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