Three men already charged in connection with a cross-country murder-for-hire plot that led to the 2018 death of a Danville man faced additional charges in U.S. District Court in Burlington Thursday.
Serhat Gumrukcu, Berk Eratay and Jerry Banks all pleaded not guilty to charges contained in a new indictment returned earlier this month by a grand jury.
The three men have been held without bail since their arrests earlier this year, and they appeared at the hearing by video from the jails where they are in custody.
Gumrukcu and Eratay had previously been charged with arranging the killing of Gregory Davis in January 2018. Banks was accused of carrying out the slaying by fatally shooting Davis after posing as a U.S. marshal in a ruse to kidnap him from his Vermont home.
All three men pleaded not guilty to earlier charges linked to Davis’ kidnapping and murder..
At Thursday’s hearing, none of their attorneys challenged the prosecution’s request that their clients remain in custody while the charges against them are pending.
David Kirby, a lawyer representing Gumrukcu, told Judge Christina Reiss he was reserving his right to make a bail request at a later point after a “bail package” can be prepared.
The new conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge, which relates to the men’s alleged use of electronic devices to communicate leading up to the killing and in financial dealings, was added to existing murder for hire conspiracy charges.
The new indictment alleged Gumrukcu and Eratay, in connection with business dealings with Davis, devised a scheme to defraud Davis and others by attempting to deceive them about the amount of money available to Gumrukcu as part of a business deal involving oil trading between the men gone bad.
According to the prosecution’s court filings, Gumrukcu was the alleged ringleader of the group, putting up the money to carry out the killing. He feared Davis would turn him in to federal authorities for fraud connected to their business dealings, prosecutors allege.
Banks, of Colorado, was initially indicted in April, charged with kidnapping Davis from his home in Danville on Jan. 6, 2018.
A day later, according to court filings, Davis’ body was found in a snowbank about 15 miles from his house. He had died after being shot multiple times. According to charging documents, Banks posed as a U.S. marshal and told Davis that he had come to arrest him on racketeering charges.
Another suspect arrested this year, Aron Lee Ethridge, 42, of Nevada, has already reached a plea deal with prosecutors. He is awaiting sentencing and faces up to 27 years in prison.
He pleaded guilty in July to murder for hire and conspiracy to commit kidnapping with death resulting. Prosecutors said Ethridge found and helped to instruct Banks to carry out the killing.
Prosecutors allege Ethridge received more than $100,000 from Eratay, also of Nevada, and Gumrukcu, from California, as payment to “cover expenses for the murder.” Eratay was said to have been friends with Gumrukcu and also worked with him in the past.
According to charging documents, Eratay had told Ethridge that he was acting on behalf of Gumrukcu and that Gumrukcu was putting up the money.
