Nikhil Gupta apologises to US judge as prosecutors seek lighter sentence in Pannun murder plot

Nikhil Gupta, the man who was accused of hatching an alleged plot to assassinate Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has apologised in a letter to the US district judge Victor Marrero ahead of his November 20 sentencing.                            

has expressed remorse and opened up about his mental health struggles after his initial arrest, saying that he “lost” his mind and wished that he could undo his mistake. 

Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors have urged a federal judge in New York to sentence Gupta to 293 months or just over 24 years.              

His lawyers, however, have pushed for a shorter term according to a sentencing memorandum filed with the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York and asked that Gupta serve 144 months or 12 years, as per a recommendation from the Probation Department, despite sentencing guidelines of 235-293 months.        

In the letter, Gupta talks about his alcoholism: “I wish I could turn back time to 2023 and undo my mistakes. Now, when I look back, I don't even recognise the man I had become. In early 2023, even though my life looked just fine from the outside, I was a mess. I was not me,”  He attributed his impaired judgement to his heavy drinking and personal judgement. 

He also said that he experienced severe suicidal thoughts during the initial days of his custody. He                                                                    

Gupta had pleaded guilty to murder for hire conspiracy and murder for hire and money laundering charges in February.                                                         

According to the letter, Gupta eventually turned to meditation, yoga and spiritual books to cop with the circumstances and find some sense of peace. "The most serious challenge in front of me at that time was to contact my family and to let them know that I was alive and to make them aware of the situation, but I could not do so for several weeks due to many restrictions on me as an American law offender...," he wrote.

He also said that the would accept any decision the court takes. US prosecutors rejected the arguments for a lighter sentence. 

Federal prosecutors have recently requested that Pannun, the alleged target of the assassination plot, be allowed to address the court directly for 20 minutes during the hearing.

The US law enforcement accused him of directing the plot at the order of an intelligence official identified as Vikash Yadav. India has denied any involvement in such a plot.