A Florida real estate fraudster who stole a residential property by using a phony charity and then tried to hire a hitman to kill the property’s owners was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison for murder for hire and obstruction of justice.
Alexander Leszczynski’s sentence will be served consecutive to the 17 years and 6 months’ sentence he received in the related fraud case.
In October 2020, Leszczynski used the name of a fake charity to file a fraudulent warranty deed for a transfer of a property in Redington Shores, Florida. When the owners of that residence – identified in court documents as Victim 1 and Victim 2 – sued Leszczynski to correct the deed, Leszczynski sent them a series of harassing letters, emails and faxes; the property owners’ attorney also receive threatening correspondence from Leszcynski.
In April 2022, Leszczynski was charged with the deed fraud related to the property belonging to Victim 1 and Victim 2, along with other frauds and multiple counts of money laundering. He was arraigned on May 17, 2022, and ordered detained.
In August 2022, the FBI became aware that while incarcerated at the Pinellas County Jail, Leszczynski sought out a hitman to kill Victim 1 and Victim 2. Leszczynski reported to a confidential informant that he had $45,000, hidden at his residence, available to pay someone to kill the victims. Leszczynski relayed to the confidential informant that he would be able to get the victims’ property and that his pending fraud case would have to be dropped if the victims were dead.
The confidential informant agreed to put Leszczynski in contact with a purported hitman, who was actually an undercover agent. Leszczynski had calls with the undercover agent in September 2022 and provided Victim 1 and Victim 2’s names, address, physical descriptions, approximate ages, and additional details that would allow the “hitman” to find photographs of them online. He also negotiated the price for the murder at $30,000.
In November 2022, Leszczynski pleaded guilty in both cases. He later withdrew his plea in the murder-for-hire case, but again pleaded guilty last June. Since he pleaded guilty in both cases, Leszczynski has written numerous letters—intercepted by the federal law enforcement—attempting to solicit and threaten others to come forward and fraudulently take responsibility for his crimes.
