A federal prosecutor is recommending less than the maximum prison sentences for three men who testified against the California biomedical researcher convicted of masterminding a murder-for-hire plot that led to the death of a business rival in Vermont.
Court documents, which were filed this week ahead of hearings set for next week in federal court in Burlington, lay out the arguments a prosecutor plans to make in support of the amount of time behind bars he will be seeking for the men, who already reached plea deals in the case.
The plea deals included separate proposed maximum sentences each of the men could face for their role in the deadly scheme that resulted in the fatal shooting in January 2018 of 49-year-old Gregory Davis of Danville.
The prosecutor cited the cooperation the three men provided to investigators to explain why he would not be seeking the maximum time behind bars from Judge Christina Reiss.
Each of the three men spent days on the witness stand during Serhat Gumrukcu’s five-week trial that ended in April, when the jury returned guilty verdicts against him on several charges, including murder for hire.
Gumrukcu, a Turkish national, was working in Los Angeles as an entrepreneur and biomedical researcher at the time of his arrest in May 2022. Prosecutors argued during the trial
that Gumrukcu ordered and paid for Davis to be killed over a failed oil trading deal between the two men.
Gumrukcu, according to prosecutors, feared that Davis would go to authorities and accuse him of fraud, jeopardizing a much larger biomedical deal Gumrukcu had in the works in which he stood to gain millions.
His attorneys contended during the trial that Gumrukcu’s co-defendants were testifying against him, and telling prosecutors what they wanted to hear, in large part to reduce their own time in prison when it came to sentencing.
Gumrukcu, 42, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced next week. Reiss said at a hearing this week that the actual imposition of that sentence may be delayed, though Gumrukcu is certain to be sentenced to life in prison.
The sentencing for the other defendants are expected to take place Thursday Sept. 25, and Friday, Sept. 26.
“The murder-for-hire conspiracy that took the life of Gregory Davis is unconscionable,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig, the prosecutor, wrote in a sentencing filing.
“The killing of Davis was planned and premeditated,” Stendig added. “Gregory Davis’s death was a brutal, execution style, killing of a father of six (Davis’s wife was pregnant with their seventh child at the time of his death).”
Based on the plea deals, each of the men are facing varying amounts of prison time.
‘Motivated by greed’
Berk Eratay, also a Turkish national who had been living in Las Vegas, was a longtime friend of Gumrukcu. Prosecutors have described Eratay as a go-between, connecting Gumrukcu with people who could kill Davis after their business deal soured.
“It was Eratay who helped set the chain of events in motion, in short, because of his personal and business relationship with Serhat Gumrukcu and the problems they faced due to their business dispute with Davis,” Stendig wrote in his filing.
“Eratay and Gumrukcu were motivated by greed,” the prosecutor added. “So, they committed an unforgivable crime.”
Eratay, 38, has pleaded guilty to charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to launder money. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to not request a prison sentence of more than 25 years for Eratay.
According to court filings this week, a prosecutor wrote he will be seeking a 10-year prison term for Eratay. His attorney, in a separate filing, has asked for a lighter prison sentence of not more than five years.
The prosecutor and his defense attorneys in their filings both cited Eratay’s cooperation and testimony as playing a critical role in the jury returning guilty verdicts against Gumrukcu following a five-week trial.
Stendig wrote that there were also mitigating factors in Eratay’s favor when it came to sentencing, including his lack of a previous criminal record and his showing of “significant remorse” throughout the case.
“To that end,” the prosecutor wrote of Eratay, “he wrote a letter expressing his contrition to Mr. Davis’s widow and he testified extensively about why he decided to cooperate with the federal government which was, in part, to try to right his previous wrong.”
His attorneys wrote in their filing that their client has used his time behind bars since his arrest in 2022 to better himself by participating and completing programs and educational offerings while incarcerated.
Eratay’s lawyers also highlighted his role in aiding Gumrukcu’s prosecution, including providing “extensive testimony” during Gumrukcu’s trial.
“Mr. Eratay spent a vast number of hours in meetings with the government,” the defense filing stated. “He reviewed voluminous evidentiary material, often in Turkish, and he assisted the prosecutors in understanding the meaning and context of Gumrukcu’s communications and actions.”
The defense also submitted scores of letters from people who knew Eratay expressing their support for him, describing his character and relationships they have had with him.
One friend wrote about Eratay’s background as a magician in Turkey, where he won a national television competition show in that country for his skills in the craft. It was also through magic that Eratay bonded with Gumrukcu, who had also performed as a magician in Turkey.
“He has always gone out of his way to uplift friends, to make them feel seen and valued,” the friend wrote of Eratay in the letter. “Berk has been an active member of the global magic community — a group of quirky, passionate performers who still believe in wonder and connection.”
The first cooperator
Aron Lee Ethridge, formerly of Henderson, Nevada, and a friend of Eratay, recruited the eventual hitman to carry out Davis’ fatal shooting in Vermont, according to charging documents.
He pleaded guilty to charges of murder for hire and conspiracy to kidnap with death resulting. Under the plea agreement, Ethridge could have been sentenced to up to 27 years behind bars, and his attorneys could seek a lesser prison term.
The prosecutor and his defense attorney, in court filings, both asked the judge to impose a sentence of 12½ years.
Ethridge, 45, was the first of the defendants in the case to plead guilty and cooperate with the prosecution.
“Aron has accepted total responsibility for his actions since his arrest,” attorney Mark Kaplan, representing Ethridge, wrote in his filing. “Aron has never made any excuses for his involvement in this serious crime and has done everything possible to show his remorse.”
Stendig, the prosecutor, wrote in his filing that when investigators first approached Ethridge in April 2022, he denied involvement in the murder-for-hire plot.
“Two days later, Ethridge called police back and tearfully confessed. He then arranged a self-surrender to FBI in Burlington and followed through with that plan,” Stendig wrote. “He was the first cooperator in this case and was uniquely situated as he personally interacted with all three of his co-conspirators.”
While asking for more than a dozen years in prison for Ethridge, Stendig wrote that Ethridge’s crimes were not the result of an accident.
“Rather, the defendant’s actions appear to have been motivated by his own greed,” the prosecutor wrote. “Ethridge was motivated entirely by money which he blew on drugs.”
Murdered for the ‘Turkish prince’
Jerry Banks, formerly of Fort Garland, Colorado, traveled to Danville on Jan. 6, 2018, knocked on the door of Davis’ home in Danville, and while pretending to be a U.S. marshal, told Davis he was under arrest for racketeering, according to prosecutors. Banks then drove Davis away and shot and killed him in a pull off along the road only a few miles from his home, court records stated.
Banks, 37, pleaded guilty to three counts for his role in the killing: murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap and money laundering. He could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Stendig, the prosecutor, recommended a 20-year prison term for Banks, who previously worked as a detention officer for a sheriff’s department in Colorado.
“Significantly, Banks shot Davis in the back more than ten times,” Stendig wrote in his filing. “The nature and circumstances of this offense are truly heinous.”
Stendig also wrote that there were mitigating circumstances in Bank’s background, including a “limited criminal history” as well as no disciplinary infractions since he was arrested and jailed in 2022.
“Banks has also struggled with substance abuse and myriad mental and emotional health challenges,” the prosecutor wrote.
Stendig also wrote about Banks’ important role in Gumrukcu’s prosecution.
“The most important part of his testimony against Gumrukcu was corroborating testimony of Aron Ethridge, and Banks’s unequivocal statement that he committed the murder for hire on behalf of ‘the Turkish Prince,’” Stendig wrote.
“Gumrukcu held himself out to be a prince,” the prosecutor added, “and this was a powerful piece of evidence against Gumrukcu.”
