BURLINGTON — The third of four suspects in a murder-for-hire plot has made an appearance in a federal court in Vermont, pleading not guilty to racketeering and murder charges in the 2018 shooting death of a Danville man.
Berk Eratay, 35, of Las Vegas was brought by authorities Thursday from Nevada to Vermont. He appeared Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in the slaying of 49-year-old Gregory Davis in January 2018.
If convicted, Eratay faces up to a life sentence or the death penalty. He had been held in custody in Nevada since being arrested in May,
Prosecutors alleged in court filings that Eratay had worked for Serhat Gumrukcu, 39, of Los Angeles. According to prosecutors, Gumrukcu was the leader of the plot because he wanted Davis killed. Charging documents stated that Gumrukcu feared that Davis was about to go to the FBI with information alleging fraud by Gumrukcu in a “multimillion-dollar oil deal” between the two.
Gumrukcu was arrested in May in California on the same federal charges as Eratay, and is currently in custody in that state. Gumrukcu is the only one of the four suspects in the case who has not been arraigned in federal court in Vermont. No date has yet been set for that proceeding.
Jerry Banks, 34, of Colorado, who was indicted in April, was the first person charged in Davis’ death. Prosecutors have charged Banks with kidnapping Davis from his house in Danville on Jan. 6, 2018.
Davis’ body was located the following day in a snowbank, about 15 miles from his home. Prosecutors allege that Banks posed as a U.S. marshal, and told Davis he had come to arrest him on racketeering charges.
Although prosecutors described Banks in court filings as the hitman who shot and killed Davis, he has been charged only with kidnapping to date. Banks pleaded not guilty to the charge last month in federal court in Vermont.
Aron Lee Ethridge, 42, of Henderson, Nevada, is the fourth suspect charged in the case and has already reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
He pleaded guilty earlier this month to murder for hire and conspiracy to commit kidnapping with death resulting. Prosecutors said Ethridge found and helped to instruct Banks, Davis’s alleged killer.
Prosecutors allege Ethridge received more than $100,000 from Eratay and Gumrukcu as payment to “cover expenses for the murder.”
Ethridge is set for sentencing in December. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors can ask for a sentence of up to 27 years for Ethridge; his attorney can argue for a shorter prison sentence.
Prosecutors alleged in charging documents that in 2017 Eratay contacted Ethridge, asking for his help in killing Davis. Later, the documents stated, Eratay told Ethridge that he was acting on behalf of Gumrukcu, that Gumrukcu was putting up the money, and that Gumrukcu was mad with Davis over a failed business deal.
Eratay, according to prosecutors, had worked previously for Gumrukcu, a biomedical researcher who has been living in California. Both Gumrukcu and Eratay were born in Turkey and both have worked as magicians, according to court filings in the case.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who presided over Friday’s arraignment in Vermont, asked Eratay what line of work he was employed in.
Eratay replied that he runs two companies “doing information technology.”
