Florida man who faked Trump pardon and pleaded guilty to Jeffrey Epstein in murder-for-hire plot sentenced
A Florida man was sentenced to 35 years in prison after investigators discovered he tried to steal millions of dollars in laundered funds by forging a fake pardon from former President Donald Trump, then orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot against two of his employees. Victims of his fraud.
Alexander Leszczynski, 24, tried to make up to $10 million through three separate fraud schemes, including at least one tied to the Covid-Era Paycheck Protection Plan, according to prosecutors.
In 2020, one of Leszczynski’s fake religious organizations allegedly tried to seize two of the former mansions of notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, in Palm Beach and outside Santa Fe, KFOR-TV reported.
Additionally, he was arrested in March 2021 for “karate-chopping” his mother during a domestic dispute, although prosecutors did not press charges against him.
He also used a fake charity to illegally obtain a residence title in Redington Shores, located about 30 miles outside of Tampa, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. When the homeowners asked for the deed to be fixed, he allegedly bombarded them with “harassing letters, emails and faxes.”
Then, as an inmate at the Pinellas County Jail, Leszczynski allegedly told an informant that he would give $45,000 to whoever could kill the two victims of his fraud.
He said the money was hidden inside his house, adding that he believed the charges would be dropped if the two victims died.
Instead of referring him to a real hit man, the informant introduced Leszczynski to an undercover agent. Investigators say he provided physical descriptions of the two victims and repeatedly asked to kill them.
After his arrest, he allegedly tried on several occasions to coerce others with handwritten letters to falsely confess that they had actually committed the crimes.
In a separate scheme, Leszczynski used fake religious organizations with names like “Love & Bliss” and “King Neptune” to fraudulently apply for $1.3 million in COVID-era Paycheck Protection Plan loans.
A North Redington Beach resident attempted to transfer money through different bank accounts so it could not be returned to him.
But when the US government found $337,000 in one of his accounts and froze it, he filed a fake pardon from former President Donald Trump in an attempt to get the money back.
Leszczynski initially pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire and fraud cases in November 2022. He at one point withdrew his plea in the murder-for-hire case but pleaded guilty again in June 2023.
