Providence Reporter

A federal grand jury in Rhode Island has returned a five-count indictment, charging two individuals with allegedly participating in a conspiracy to murder two federal prosecutors and a witness associated with a criminal matter now pending before the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Elijah Melton, 26, of Taunton and Kareem Pires, 25, of Wareham, currently detained in federal custody in Rhode Island, are named in an indictment that charges both men with conspiracy to tamper with a witness or informant by killing or attempting to kill and conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in commission of murder-for-hire. Additionally, Melton faces three counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence.

The defendants will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on a later date to be determined by the court. A federal indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This matter was first charged by way of a federal criminal complaint filed in the District of Massachusetts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston. At the direction of the Department of Justice in Washington, the District of Massachusetts is now recused from this matter.

The matter was investigated by the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service for the District of Massachusetts, with the assistance of the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. The matter is being prosecuted in the District of Rhode Island by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stacey A. Erickson and Peter I. Roklan.