Former CU Manager Faces Sentencing for Alleged Murder-for-Hire Plot

A former credit union branch manager is expected to be sentenced in June after she recently pleaded guilty to a murder-for-hire charge.

Reshma Massarone, the former manager of the Woodstock, N.Y., branch of the $1.4 billion Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, pleaded guilty last month to a racketeering murder charge during a federal court hearing in White Plains, N.Y., according to a court filing.

She allegedly hired a hitman – who turned out to be a law enforcement officer – to murder her brother-in-law.

In this case, there is no plea agreement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.  However, prosecutors submitted to a federal judge a “pimentel letter,” which is a document that explains the possible penalties that a defendant faces for pleading guilty to a criminal charge. That letter, however, was not available on the federal docket.

Since her arrest last August, Massarone has remained in federal custody because a judge determined the former credit union employee to be a danger to the community.

She began working at Mid-Hudson Valley  April 2023. Three months later, Massarone contacted “Individual-1,” a law enforcement officer in Guyana, using Facebook messenger and solicited Individual 1’s services to murder her brother-in-law in exchange for $10,000, according to the criminal complaint. Massarone allegedly agreed to wire Individual-1 in Guyana $2,500 as a down payment. The criminal complaint shows video surveillance photos of Massarone wiring the funds from a Walgreen’s Western Union kiosk in Orange County, N.Y., on July 21.

Although federal authorities did not specifically reveal why Massarone wanted to allegedly kill her brother-in-law, court documents showed he allegedly contacted the human resources department at another bank where Massarone was working as a branch manager in September 2022. The brother-in-law allegedly demanded that the bank terminate her employment, according to prosecutors.

What’s more, after the brother-in-law allegedly drove to Massarone’s workplace, she became scared for her safety.  She filed a family offense petition against the brother-in-law, seeking an order of protection.

She also claimed that the brother-in-law allegedly “behaved similarly” when she was working at other banks in 2015 and 2020. As part of the family court litigation, Massarone obtained a restraining order against her brother-in-law.

In March 2023, a month before Massarone began working at Mid-Huson Valley, she attended a funeral, which also was attended by the brother-in-law. After he entered the funeral home, Massarone called New York City police and demanded his arrest for allegedly violating the restraining order.

According to prosecutors, 10 days after the funeral, someone sent an email to Massarone’s bank accusing her of harassment. The identity of that someone was redacted from the email.

The email alleged that Massarone sent the unidentified person “racist comments pertaining to African Americans” and alleged that Massarone is “unhinged and will tarnish your bank’s name.”