Former New York police officer sentenced to life for execution of 4 men

A former Westchester, New York, police officer who turned drug trafficker and orchestrated the executions of four men in 2016 was sentenced Monday to four consecutive life terms, federal prosecutors said.

Nicholas Tartaglione suspected a man of robbing him in 2016 and lured him into a trap, after which he and others executed the man along with three family members or friends who were with him, a the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said.

“Nicholas Tartaglione brutally and senselessly murdered Martin Luna for money, then mercilessly executed Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the U.S. Attorney said Damian Williams in a statement.

Tartaglione, 56, was convicted by a jury in April 2023 of 11 counts of murder, four counts of kidnapping resulting in death, one count of conspiracy to kidnap and one count of drug conspiracy.

Tartaglione tortured Martin Luna, whom he suspected of stealing $250,000, then strangled him with a tie, prosecutors said.

He then took the other three men — Luna's nephews Urbano Santiago and Miguel Luna, as well as family friend Hector Gutierrez — to a wooded area and forced them to kneel, Williams said. They were then all shot in the back of the head.

These three men happened to be with Martin Luna at the time of the kidnapping.

They were killed “because they witnessed Martin's murder and were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing letter, in which they also called Tartaglione's crimes of “monstrous”.

The bodies of all four men were later buried at Tartaglione's property in Otisville, in upstate New York, officials said. The bodies were found by an FBI task force in December 2021.

Tartaglione was sentenced Monday to four life sentences, to run consecutively.

Tartaglione's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.

In March, Tartaglione, through his attorney, filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that his attorney failed to challenge crucial evidence, as well as other missteps. Tartaglione said he was innocent.

The judge denied the request for a new trial, records show.

Tartaglione is a former police officer and bodybuilder who sold steroids to other bodybuilders in the Hudson Valley area, prosecutors said, including to two people who helped lead the kidnapping and killings, Joseph Biggs and Gerard Benderoth.

Biggs, Tartaglione and Benderoth each shot one of the three men they forced to their knees, prosecutors said.

“At Tartaglione's direction, Urbano, Miguel and Hector were forced out of the car and onto their knees at gunpoint. Then, one by one, each was executed,” prosecutors wrote in the sentencing letter. “The terror of the last victim to die must have bordered on the incomprehensible.”

With all four victims still missing, their families reported them missing to police, which ultimately led to the FBI task force finding their bodies.

Benderoth has since died. Biggs pleaded guilty and was sentenced in April to more than 16 years in prison.

Two other men, Jason Sullivan and Marcos Cruz, were also involved and pleaded guilty. Sullivan was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison and Cruz was sentenced in November to time already served.