PORTSMOUTH — A Portsmouth man was found guilty Wednesday of trying to hire a hitman to kill two witnesses set to testify against him in another case.
Nicholas Louis Ortiz, 42, was found guilty of two counts each of soliciting murder for hire and obstructing justice, according to a release from the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Ortiz will be sentenced Nov. 20 and faces the possibility of decades in prison.
Ortiz was being held in the Portsmouth City Jail on abduction and robbery charges in October when he spoke by jail phone with someone he thought was a hitman but was actually an undercover police detective, according to the release. Ortiz told the detective he wanted to have two people scheduled to testify against him killed, the release said.
Ortiz gave the detective “intimate details about the potential victims to help orchestrate their murders,” the release said.
Solicitation of murder is a felony punishable by up to 40 years in prison in Virginia, while felony obstruction of justice carries a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Jane Harper, [email protected]
