United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

SPRINGFIELD MAN INVOLVED IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE SCHEME SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that IRA I. BLOOM, 48, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Alfred V. Covello in Hartford to 240 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.  On October 6, 2006, a jury found BLOOM guilty of one count of using interstate facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire, and one count of traveling interstate in the commission of a murder-for-hire.  Each count of conviction carries a statutory maximum penalty of 120 months, and Judge Covello sentenced BLOOM to 120 months on each count and ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

“The statutory maximum penalty of 20 years is appropriate punishment for an individual who planned to have his ex-wife brutally raped and murdered,” Acting U.S. Attorney Dannehy stated.  “I want to acknowledge the work of ATF and the Windsor Police, whose joint investigative efforts have led to this defendant’s lengthy prison term, and have protected his intended victim.”

According to evidence presented by the Government during the trial, BLOOM contracted with a police informant to have BLOOM’s ex-wife raped and murdered.  Evidence included several recorded phone calls, a recorded meeting at a restaurant in Enfield, Connecticut, and videotaped surveillance of a meeting in a vehicle between BLOOM and the confidential informant.  The recorded conversations revealed that BLOOM wanted his ex-wife murdered on the following Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday morning, days when BLOOM had custody of the couple’s son, who was eight-years-old at the time.  BLOOM stated in the recordings that he wanted the murder to look like a car jacking, and he wanted it to happen when his wife arrived at work, typically 15 minutes before other employees arrived and the business opened.  During the recorded meeting, BLOOM provided the informant with information including where his ex-wife worked, when she arrived at work, a description of her vehicle and where she parked.

The Government presented evidence that BLOOM and his ex-wife were involved in an acrimonious custody dispute in Massachusetts.  BLOOM’s ex-wife testified that she told the Massachusetts court that BLOOM would kill her one day.  On June 29, 2005, nine days before BLOOM was arrested, the Massachusetts court issued a restraining order against BLOOM based on “allegations of death threat.”  BLOOM’s ex-wife testified that a few days before the restraining order was issued, she found BLOOM trying to sell a rug that belonged to her.  BLOOM’s ex-wife testified that as she started to walk away from BLOOM after a short discussion regarding the rug, BLOOM threatened that he was going to kill her.

BLOOM’s ex-wife also testified that someone cut the power steering hose on her vehicle and, at a later time, drained the brake fluid from her car.  A mechanic from Springfield testified that he found a clean slice in the power steering hose of her vehicle and presented an invoice that stated “found: small slice in hose from knife.”  According to the confidential informant, BLOOM told him that BLOOM had cut his ex-wife’s brake line.  While discussing the murder plans with the informant at the Enfield restaurant, BLOOM stated that he had someone in California who could do it and make it look like a car accident.

The Government presented evidence that, during the meeting at the restaurant, BLOOM was concerned about apprehension.  BLOOM stated that he wanted the informant to handle the arrangements with the hitman and stated that the hitman could not know who BLOOM was or what he looked like.  At the restaurant, BLOOM was concerned about other people listening to their conversation, including a waiter at the restaurant and a female patron who, in fact, was an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was surveilling the meeting.  During the recordings, BLOOM discussed his need for an alibi and stated that his ex-wife needed to be murdered when BLOOM was with his son.  BLOOM stated that, after the murder, BLOOM and the informant would have to be careful because BLOOM would be “watched like a hawk.”

During the recorded conversations, BLOOM said that he wanted his ex-wife raped and murdered.  BLOOM stated that if his ex-wife was mugged, raped and her body was dumped in Hartford, then it would look like a car jacking and “It would never come back to me.  Never.”

During the recorded meetings, BLOOM agreed to pay the informant $20,000 from the proceeds of a life insurance policy to hire a third person to carry out the murder.  The Government presented evidence that BLOOM was the owner and exclusive beneficiary of a life insurance policy on his ex-wife, which would pay a death benefit in the amount of $100,000 upon her death.  The Government presented evidence that since the policy’s inception in 1996, BLOOM paid the premium annually, but on June 20, 2005, he changed the payment schedule to a quarterly payment schedule.

BLOOM was arrested on July 8, 2005, in Enfield, Connecticut, following a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and Windsor Police Department, with the assistance of Enfield Police Department.

BLOOM has been incarcerated since his arrest.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey M. Stone.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov