BURLINGTON — A federal judge sentenced the man who pulled the trigger in a fatal murder-for-hire plot to more than 16 years behind bars while ordering the man who recruited him to a lighter prison term.
Judge Christina Reiss sentenced Jerry Banks and Aron Lee Ethridge on Friday for their roles in the death of 49-year-old Gregory Davis of Danville more than seven years ago.
The hearings for the two men in federal court in Burlington came a day after the judge addressed the cases of two other men convicted for their roles in the same deadly scheme.
During the Friday hearing for Banks, the man who carried out the murder, Reiss gave Banks 200 months, or just over 16 years, followed by five years of post-release supervision. The judge spoke about balancing the role each man played in the crime with the sentences they would get.
“One of my concerns in this case is disparity,” Reiss said.
The judge called Banks’ role in the crime “abhorrent” and “heinous” and emphasized he was ultimately the one who pulled the trigger. But Reiss also said she believed Ethridge had exploited Banks, who had a history of mental illnesses and substance abuse, into carrying out the crime at one of the lowest points in his life.
Later Friday afternoon, Reiss sentenced Ethridge to 140 months, or more than 11 years, for his role in the murder.
Reiss said Ethridge’s cooperation with law enforcement, two days after he was initially questioned, was one of the most timely she had ever seen. She also recognized he did so without an agreement for a lesser sentence, other than the death penalty being taken off the table.
“Your cooperation set the dominos in motion,” she said, adding that he helped investigators nail down the roles of the others in the murder plot.
Yet, the judge said, Ethridge still played a central role in the murder scheme that involved three other men.
“Nobody said no,” Reiss said.
The two sentencing hearings featured defense attorneys talking about their clients’ pasts and what eventually brought them together.
Banks, 38, grew up surrounded by violence, drugs and alcohol, facing housing insecurity without stable parental support after his father left when he was 4 years old. His mother struggled with addiction. When Ethridge — his closest friend at the time —- asked him to carry out the murder, Banks had just lost his dog and had recently broken up with his girlfriend after a decadelong relationship.
“I will do better if I get out,” Banks said in court, apologizing to the Davis family for the crime and adding that, although he can never make amends for what he did, he wants to be a good person moving forward.
Melissa Davis, Gregory Davis’ widow, also addressed Banks during the hearing. A photo of her with her seven children was projected on courtroom monitors as she spoke.
“This is the hardest of the four statements I must give because today I stand before my husband’s killer,” she said.
Melissa Davis recalled how Banks kidnapped her husband from their home on a night in January 2018, and how months before, he had spied on them, watching their children run in and out of the house.
“Yet you were not moved by the love of family you witnessed,” she said.
“But after years of tears and prayer, I can stand here today strong enough to say, ‘I forgive you,’” Melissa Davis said, looking at Banks, who returned her gaze, nodded and whispered, “thank you.”
Banks, a former jail guard who had lived in Fort Garland, Colorado, pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors to charges of murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap and money laundering. Under the terms of the agreement, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Steven Barth, Banks’ attorney, asked the judge to impose a prison sentence of 12.5 years, contending that Ethridge “exploited” and “took advantage” of Banks’ vulnerabilities in convincing him to carry out the killing.
Banks, Barth added, saw Ethridge not only as a friend, but as a father figure and mentor whom he wanted to please.
Ethridge, in speaking to the judge later, denied that he ever pressured Banks.
Even if Banks had backed out at some point, his attorney said, it was “inevitable” that the other three men involved in the plot were going to make sure that Gregory Davis was killed.
“The parties were dead set, with or without him,” Barth said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig disputed that the killing would have happened even if Banks had pulled out. He called on the judge to impose a prison term of 20 years. Stendig said that while Ethridge may have egged on Banks to carry out the killing, it was Banks who ultimately pulled the trigger.
Stendig also outlined the “chilling” and premeditated nature of Gregory Davis’ killing. The prosecutor rattled off the string of states Banks had to drive through to get from Colorado to Vermont, stating that he could have backed out any time along the trip, but he didn’t.
Pretending to be a U.S. marshal, complete with a badge, Banks told Davis he was under arrest and presented him with a phony arrest warrant, Stendig said. Banks then placed Davis in handcuffs and drove him away before shooting him repeatedly in the back and leaving his body in a snow-covered pull off along the road only a few miles from his home.
Stendig said Banks reported that he carried out the deadly hit on behalf of a “Turkish prince” – a title fraudulently used by Serhat Gumrukcu.
Gumrukcu, whose sentencing hearing started Thursday but was then delayed until November, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Berk Eratay, a former close friend of Gumrukcu, was sentenced Thursday to a little more than nine years for his role in Gregory Davis’ killing.
Prosecutors argued during Gumrukcu’s trial in April that he masterminded the plot because he was concerned that Gregory Davis, with whom he had been involved in a failed oil deal, could expose his fraudulent business dealings.
On Friday, the prosecutor and Ethridge’s attorney Mark Kaplan asked for a 150-month prison term for Ethridge, a former railroad conductor from Henderson, Nevada.
“Eight years ago I made the worst decision of my life,” Ethridge said. He apologized to the Davis family for the “terror and sadness” he caused, and to his own family for not being there for them, particularly his 5-year-old daughter.
“I sincerely hope that my actions and behaviors brought some closure to the family,” he said, with his voice breaking in sobs.
As Melissa Davis approached the prosecutor’s table to make her statement, Ethridge turned his body toward her and listened carefully.
Melissa Davis offered Ethridge her forgiveness, thanking him for his cooperation with investigators.
“Your choices brought harm, but your daughter can still see a father who chooses the way of truth,” she said to him.
“I’m so sorry,” a tearful Ethridge said when she finished speaking.
The judge set hearings for November in all four cases to determine the restitution they will have to pay to the Davis family.
Reiss, near the end of Friday’s hearing, pointed out that the recurring theme in all the cases was that the four men involved had many talents and abilities, from strong computer skills and leadership qualities to disarming charisma.
“When you have good gifts,” she said, “it’s important not to use them in the wrong way.”
