Shaminderjit Singh Sandhu, 51, of Tracy, pleaded guilty to conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, according to an announcement from Acting U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez.
Court documents state that Sandhu worked with Jagninder Singh Boparai, 49, of Manteca, and Ramesh Kumar Birla Jr., 47, of Dublin, in a plot targeting Victim 2. In February 2023, the three men met several times at a Starbucks in Manteca with someone they believed was a hitman. The individual was actually a confidential informant working for the FBI.
On Feb. 17, 2024, Boparai told the informant that their first assignment was to assault Victim 1 and said that if it went well there would be another job afterward. The next day he offered $6,000 for this assault. In March 2023, Boparai gave the informant $1,000 as a down payment while Birla and another person were present. Later on, after being shown staged photos suggesting the assault had occurred, Boparai indicated his approval and mentioned two other tasks: robbing a business and making someone “disappear.”
The documents further state that in March 2023 Boparai agreed to pay $10,000 as an initial payment for the murder of Victim 2. Sandhu provided Victim 2’s address while Boparai instructed that no evidence should remain. Boparai contacted Birla twice for Victim 2’s Facebook profile photo which he later showed to the informant.
On March 24, 2023, Sandhu and Birla met with the informant in a parking lot in Manteca and directed him to kill Victim 2 and transport the remains to Mexico in a suitcase. Surveillance observed Boparai nearby during this meeting.
Authorities arrested all three men on March 31, 2023; they remain in federal custody.
Multiple agencies contributed to this investigation including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; California Highway Patrol; local police departments from Ceres, Dublin (https://www.dublin.ca.gov/), Lathrop (https://www.ci.lathrop.ca.us/), Modesto (https://www.modestogov.com/), Stockton (https://www.stocktonca.gov/), Tracy (https://www.cityoftracy.org/) and Turlock (https://www.cityofturlock.org/); Homeland Security Investigations; San Joaquin County Probation Office; San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office; Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation; Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office; as well as support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adrian T. Kinsella and Kevin Khasigian are prosecuting.
Sandhu is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 13, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta. He faces up to ten years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 but actual sentencing will be determined by statutory factors and federal guidelines.
Boparai pleaded guilty on Jan. 23, 2025 and awaits sentencing on Aug. 7, facing penalties similar to Sandhu.
Birla has a status conference set for Oct. 23; he faces similar charges but is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
“This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Highway Patrol…and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Sanchez.
