This trial has its own pizza connection.
Bungling Hitman Khalid Mehdiyev today may explain the mistake he made in court today when he tried to clip an Iranian-American journalist who was actually a man who worked in a pizza joint in place of the cool collected earth-riding assassin, and who was banished at Brooklyn three years ago.
“Are you working at a pizza shop as you're coordinating international enticements?” Elena Fast, the defense attorney for one of Mehdiyev's suspects, asked him while sitting in the stands in the Manhattan federal courthouse.
“That's right,” he replied.
“Big responsibility, do both at the same time!” Fast spoke about his Aspirants Day job at Peppino's.
“Yes, mistake,” the self-proclaimed Russian gang replied, dry.
However, 27-year-old Mehdiyev offered no much else during the long cross-examination of the lawsuit against Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, the Azerbaijani nationals who allegedly hired Mehdiyev to kill journalist and Iranian regime critic Masih Alinejad in 2022.
Iranian government agents have been hunting Arinehad to lent since fleeing the Middle Eastern country in 2009, but their wild-bargain schemes have been scarce so far.
Omarov and Amirov are currently on trial for the murder and attempted murder of their employers, and authorities say they and Mediev are part of the same gang in their shared home country.
But Mehdiyev didn't stand out talking Thursday even when he asked Fast if he worked for Ride-Share Company Uber in 2020.
Mehdiyev replied that he did not remember.
“No, mistake,” replied Mediev.
“Do you remember this part of your life?” she asked.
“There are a few things I don't remember in prison for a long time,” he replied.
“Don't you remember driving 922 miles for Uber in 2020? Is that your testimony today?”
“Yes, mistake,” the convicted felon replied.
His nearby testimony was in stark contrast to the Wednesday hearing when he told the court he tried to infiltrate Arinehad's world by texting her on a variety of topics, including what he said was “the best journalist.”
“I was about to enter her life,” said Mediev, the bearded bear of a man from Azerbaijan's Caspian country, calmly.
“I was trying to get an easy way to kill her.”
But he failed again and again.
Eventually, he tried to wager her flatbush home, but lost the challenge on July 28, 2022. He flips his hand over to open her door, ordering food from the car as he lurks outside, and running a stop sign as officers chased him.
Police arrested him in a Subaru Forester SUV at an Illinois plate just outside Arinehad's home after a series of incredible slip-ups.
When they searched the car, they found one loaded AK-47 and a ski mask in the chamber. Mehdiyev clearly said in court that he plans to use it to assassinate Alinejad.
“I was there to kill a journalist,” said Mediev of Yonkers.
Prosecutors said the Iranian government has offered to pay 45-year-old Amirov and 40-year-old Omarov about $500,000 for the hit by a woman known for constant criticism of the Iranian regime.
The pair of criminals pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mehdiyev – who said he was paid $30,000 for a failed hit – decided to work with the Fed after pleading guilty to attempted murder and gun charges.
He faces at least 15 years in prison for trying to kill an assault charge unrelated to Arinehad.
Early Wednesday morning, Alynehad Posted on x About how grateful she is that law enforcement protected her from her murderers.
“I recorded this video a few months after I was arrested for a loaded gun outside a Brooklyn home,” she wrote, referring to the video standing outside with a group of NYPD officers.
“Today, he admitted in federal court that he was sent out from the Islamic Republic to kill me to speak out about a 'crime',” she said.
“I am deeply grateful to American law enforcement for not only protecting my life, but also for standing up for free speech,” she continued.
“Free speech should not be punished by death.”
