Los Angeles Developer Found Guilty Of Murder-For-Hire, Arson
A federal jury has found California developer Arthur Aslanian guilty of a murder-for-hire plot and arson.
Aslanian was convicted Friday in U.S. District Court for California’s Central District for his role in the hiring of a hit man to kill two individuals, a person who had opposed him in litigation and a lawyer who had represented one of his companies in a bankruptcy, and for paying a different individual to set fire to a North Hollywood rental property he owned.
The targets of the contract killings were identified as M.Y. and S.E. in court documents. M.Y. had represented one of Aslanian’s companies in a bankruptcy, then threatened litigation after the developer failed to pay over $261K in legal fees, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
S.E. won a lawsuit against Aslanian after the developer attempted to take possession of a home where S.E.’s parents lived, according to the release.
The arson conviction stems from a $2K payment Aslanian gave to an individual to set fire to a North Hollywood property Aslanian owned. Aslanian owns three parcels adjacent to the property in the 11000 block of Hartsook Street in the NoHo neighborhood through a company called Andalucia Project.
Tenants at the apartment building have accused Aslanian of harassing them and threatening them to get them to leave, according to the LA Times. The tenants also said that Aslanian had created a toxic environment with mold, vermin and asbestos at the property in an effort to drive them out.
The hired arsonist set fire to the building twice. The first attempt in February 2022 ended with minimal damage to the building. The second arson a month later ended with two vacant units burned.
Aslanian was at one time a successful developer in the San Fernando Valley, owning several multifamily properties in the area. However, he also has a long history of legal and financial trouble dating back to 1998, according to the Times.
Aslanian enlisted the help of Sesar Rivera, a 41-year-old employee at one of his companies, to hire the hit man and arsonist, according to the release. Rivera agreed to cooperate with investigators after being detained and questioned in September 2022.
Rivera had met with a convicted felon and gang member in April to arrange the murders, promising to pay the individual $20K once M.Y. was killed. The would-be hit man secretly recorded a follow-up meeting in July with Rivera and provided a copy of the recording to law enforcement.
On Sept. 15, Rivera showed Aslanian a staged murder photograph of S.E., and the developer was arrested on Sept. 29 and charged with murder-for-hire before the arson charges were added in March.
Rivera in March pleaded guilty to two counts related to the murder-for-hire plot. He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 25 and faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each count, according to the Department of Justice.
Aslanian was found guilty on one count of conspiracy and use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire and on a separate count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. He was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson, attempted arson and arson of a building used in interstate commerce.
Aslanian, 54, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 2 and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years each for the two murders-for-hire as well as between five and 20 years in federal prison for each of the three arson-related counts.
