RUTLAND — The third of four suspects in a murder-for-hire plot has pleaded guilty to federal charges in the 2018 death of a Danville man. The deal could send him to prison for up to 25 years.
Berk Eratay of Las Vegas appeared Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Rutland and entered his guilty pleas to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to launder money, according to a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors.
Eratay has been in prison since his arrest in May 2022 in the slaying of 49-year-old Gregory Davis in January 2018. Prosecutors described Eratay as a go-between, connecting a wealthy businessman with people who could kill Davis after a soured business deal.
Eratay’s guilty pleas leave only one of the four defendants’ cases still pending: Serhat Gumrukcu, of Los Angeles, a biomedical researcher, who prosecutors alleged was the mastermind behind the killing.
Gumrukcu has pleaded not guilty to federal charges against him in the case, including murder-for-hire, and is currently in custody awaiting a trial set for this fall.
According to charging documents, Davis suspected he was being defrauded by Gumrukcu in an oil deal gone bad and eventually threatened legal action in December 2017. The following month, Davis was murdered.
Had the authorities become aware of the fraud allegations, prosecutors allege in a court filing, Gumrukcu thought it would jeopardize his ownership stake of more than $100 million in a California biotechnology company called Enochian BioSciences.
Eratay’s plea agreement, filed this week, states that he is aware that the charges against him carry a maximum prison time of 40 years.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors agreed to not request a prison sentence of more than 25 years for Eratay. His attorney can argue for a lesser sentence. The federal sentencing guidelines for the offenses in the case, given various factors, would not likely exceed 30 years in prison, according to the agreement.
Federal sentencing guidelines are advisory, but judges often take them into consideration. Chief Federal Judge Geoffrey Crawford has not yet set a sentencing date for Eratay.
Two other defendants in the case have already reached plea deals with prosecutors and are awaiting sentencing.
Aron Lee Ethridge of Henderson, Nevada, pleaded guilty in July 2022 to federal charges of murder for hire and conspiracy to commit kidnapping with death resulting. Prosecutors said Ethridge found and helped to instruct Jerry Banks of Fort Garland, Colorado, who traveled to Vermont and killed Davis.
Banks, in June 2023, pleaded guilty to three counts for his role in the killing: murder-for-hire, conspiracy to kidnap and money laundering. As part of the plea deal with prosecutors, he admitted he was hired to pose as a deputy U.S. Marshal and abduct Davis before killing him.
Under the deal, Banks faces sentencing guidelines of about 24 to 30 years.
Eratay’s role
The plea deal with Eratay outlines his specific role in the murder-for-hire plot.
According to the plea agreement, from January 2015 to January 2018 Eratay worked as an assistant to Gumrukcu, and as part of that work he provided false information to Davis in connection with Gumrukcu’s business dealings with Davis.
Eratay, like Gumrukcu, is a resident of Turkey. Both men had also previously worked as magicians, according to court filings in the case.
Gumrukcu, according to court filings, had helped start Enochian Bioscience in 2017, a biotech company that, according to its website, has worked on research into various diseases including HIV and Covid-19.
Before the summer of 2017, the filing stated, Gumrukcu asked Eratay to help find
someone to kill Davis and requested that Eratay contact Ethridge to facilitate the murder.
Eratay, the plea agreement stated, contacted Ethridge, requesting that Ethridge assist in a murder. Initially, the filing stated, Gumrukcu provided Eratay with funds to pay Ethridge to help locate Davis, who was believed to be in New Jersey.
Later, according to the plea agreement, Ethridge agreed to attempt to locate someone to assist with the murder of Davis. Eratay, the filing stated, told Ethridge that he was acting on behalf of Gumrukcu and that Gumrukcu was providing the funds.
In the summer 2017, the plea deal stated, Ethridge enlisted Banks in the murder scheme. Prosecutors say between June 2017 and October 2017, Gumrukcu wired about $300,000 to two bank accounts controlled by Eratay.
During that period, the filing stated, and at Gumrukcu’s instruction, Eratay withdrew approximately $200,000 from the bank accounts to pay for the murder-for-hire.
Before January 2018, the filing stated, and again at Gumrukcu’s instruction, Eratay paid Ethridge over $100,000 for his role and to cover expenses for the murder. Ethridge, prosecutors said, also received an additional sum in Bitcoin after Davis was murdered.
Eratay provided Ethridge with identifying and location information for Davis, including an image of Davis, which Ethridge then provided to Banks, the filing stated.
On Jan. 6, 2018, the filing stated, Banks impersonated a deputy U.S. marshal, and abducted Davis from his residence and murdered him, shooting him multiple times in the head and torso.
Davis’ body was found the next day in a snowbank about 15 miles away in Barnet.
Authorities said they used cellphone data, surveillance footage from businesses and other electronic information to gather evidence pointing to Banks as the killer.
Davis, according to his obituary, grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, and had lived in Vermont for only a short time before his death.
In addition to the criminal charges filed in the case, a federal civil wrongful death lawsuit was brought against Gumrukcu by Melissa Davis, who was Gregory Davis’ wife.
That case remains pending.
