BURLINGTON — A Colorado man arrested in a murder-for-hire plot will remain behind bars as federal prosecutors move forward with their case, accusing him of posing as a U.S. marshal to kidnap a Vermont man who was later found shot to death in a snowbank.
Jerry Banks, 34, of Fort Garland, Colorado, pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Burlington to a federal kidnapping charge in the January 2018 abduction of Gregory Davis, 49, of Danville.
Banks hasn’t been charged in Davis’ death. But in court filings, prosecutors portrayed him as the hitman in a scheme to kill Davis to keep him from going to federal authorities with accusations that another man, Serhat Gumrukcu, ripped him off in a business deal.
In addition to Banks, three other men have been arrested in the past two months for their alleged roles in the plot, including Gumrukcu, 39, of Los Angeles.
According to prosecutors’ court filings, Davis had been preparing to go to authorities with fraud allegations against Gumrukcu stemming from a multimillion-dollar oil deal they had been involved in.
Banks made his first appearance in a Vermont courtroom Thursday since his arrest in April in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. He did not contest a request from prosecutors that he remain in custody while the kidnapping case against him is pending.
“The defendant’s prior actions also demonstrate a serious risk to the safety of potential
witnesses. The complaint affidavit outlines strong evidence that the defendant killed someone he did not know for money,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Van de Graaf wrote in a court filing.
“Someone who would kill for money,” the prosecutor added, “would likely kill or improperly influence a witness or otherwise seek to influence the course of a trial that would result in his life in prison.”
Van de Graaf wrote in the filing that, while Banks is now charged only with kidnapping, more serious counts could be coming that would carry the death penalty.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford said during Thursday’s hearing that Banks posed both a risk to flee and a threat to public safety, and granted the prosecution’s request to keep Banks in custody.
The other men arrested in recent weeks in the case — Gumrukcu; Berks Eratay, 35, of Las Vegas; and Aron Lee Ethridge, 41, of Henderson, Nevada — are all being held in jail while awaiting further court action.
Prosecutors alleged in court filings that Gumrukcu wanted Davis dead because he feared Davis would go to the FBI with damning information related to the oil deal. That could have jeopardized another deal in which Gumrukcu sought an ownership stake in a California biotechnology company called Enochian BioSciences, prosecutors wrote.
The Enochian deal was completed after Davis was killed, prosecution filings indicated, and Gumrukcu now owns millions dollars’ worth of Enochian stock.
Prosecutors alleged Banks kidnapped Davis from his home in Danville on Jan. 6, 2018, by posing as a U.S. marshal who came to arrest Davis on racketeering charges.
The next day, Davis was found dead in a snowbank in Barnet, about 15 miles from his home. He’d been shot in the head and torso and was wearing handcuffs.
Authorities said they used cellphone data, surveillance footage from businesses and other electronic information to gather evidence pointing to Banks as the alleged kidnapper. They could not find any previous ties between Banks and Davis.
As the probe continued, prosecutors said they uncovered a chain of connections leading to Gumrukcu. Banks was friends with Ethridge, and prosecutors alleged that, after killing Davis, Ethridge was the first person Banks called. Prosecutors said Ethridge was a friend of Eratay, and Eratay worked for Gumrukcu.
Eratay and Gumruckcu, both from Turkey, are also friends who previously worked as magicians, according to court filings.
Gumrukcu and Eratay are each charged with conspiring to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of the murder scheme. If convicted, each faces a mandatory life sentence and possibly the death penalty.
Ethridge has been charged with conspiring with Banks to kidnap Davis.
Gumrukcu had a hearing set for Thursday afternoon in federal court in California to determine if he would stay in jail while awaiting further court action.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Accused hitman in murder-for-hire plot denies federal charge, ordered detained.