Former doctor sentenced for trying to hire hit men
By Terry Murry on Thursday, January 26th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SPOKANE – Former Spokane physician Ronald Craig Ilg, 56, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison after paying dark web hit men $60,000 in bitcoin in 2021 to kidnap his estranged wife and assault a former professional colleague.
After the FBI obtained copies of Ilg’s dark web messages, he also obstructed justice, according to the U.S. Department of Justice in Spokane. First, during a voluntary interview with the FBI, Ilg falsely claimed he paid the hit men to kill him, rather than his victims. Second, Ilg sent a letter to a key witness against him, begging the witness to marry him so he could control whether she testified. He even offered to pay tuition for the witness’s children.
Ilg also directed the witness to destroy evidence by burning Ilg’s letter. More recently, and after pleading guilty to his crimes, federal prosecutors said he sought a book or movie deal so that he could obtain financial gain from his crimes.
Ilg was ordered to pay more than $25,000 in restitution and a $100,000 fine. He will also spend three years on federal supervision following his release from federal prison.
“This case demonstrates how violent offenders exploit cyberspace and cryptocurrency to further their criminal agendas,” said Vanessa R. Waldref, United States attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “Mr. Ilg solicited and paid for multiple dark web hit men to target the two victims in this case. Mr. Ilg even stated he would target additional victims if the hit men followed through with the plan to harm these first two victims.”
Photo of Ronald Ilg via LinkedIn.
