Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping Conspiracy

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Sherzod Mukumov pled guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping.  As alleged in the indictment, Mukumov and his co-conspirators used a Taser to subdue and abduct a victim to collect a debt the victim purportedly owed to one of Mukukmov’s co-defendants.  The plea proceeding was held before United States District Judge I. Leo Glasser.  When sentenced, Mukumov faces up to life in prison, as well as forfeiture and a fine of up to $250,000.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the guilty plea.

In December 2018, the victim joined a pre-existing scheme of Mukumov and others to help applicants for New York State commercial driver’s licenses cheat on tests administered by the Department of Motor Vehicles, in exchange for cash.  When the victim ended his involvement in the scheme after approximately two weeks, his former co-conspirators claimed he owed them money. 

On the morning of March 28, 2019, Mukumov and his co-conspirators assaulted the victim outside an apartment building in Brooklyn.  While the victim was clinging to the front door of the building, he was shocked multiple times by a Taser device held by one of Mukumov’s co-defendants, and lost consciousness.  The victim subsequently regained consciousness inside a vehicle, with his hands bound.  Mukumov and his co-defendants drove the victim to a deserted area in a parking garage, and took his telephone and other personal items.  They then drove to a bank where they forced the victim to open an account and write them a check in partial payment of the purported debt.  The victim was released later that day, after he was forced to surrender his driver’s license, green card and bank card.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section.  Special Assistant United States Attorney Virginia Nguyen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Turner Buford are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

Sherzod Mukumov
Age: 27
Brooklyn, NY

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-223 (ILG)