A federal jury convicted three Naples men in a Marco Island murder-for-hire plot.

A jury verdict is the finding on the counts that were tried. It is not the prison term. The Middle District of Florida said Thursday that Jesus Pujol Hernandez, Miguel Marquez Romero, and Paulo Sabon Montero were convicted of two murder-for-hire counts. Sentencing hearings are on the calendar for Jan. 27, 2027. The office said each faces up to 20 years.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida said Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, that a federal jury found Jesus Pujol Hernandez, 42, Miguel Marquez Romero, 30, and Paulo Sabon Montero, 55, all of Naples, guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and use of interstate facilities for murder-for-hire. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement. WBBH reported the same convictions from that release. The office said each faces up to 20 years in federal prison and that sentencing hearings will be held on Jan. 27, 2027. The release gives the announcement date. It does not give a separate date for when the jury returned. Twenty years is the maximum the office stated. It is not a term a judge has imposed.

The office said that, according to court records, testimony, and evidence at trial, the FBI was investigating Marquez in an unrelated case in the Southern District of Florida in April 2025. On April 16, 2025, agents learned Marquez had told Sabon he had a "sweet play" involving a millionaire in Marco Island who wanted to kill their brother for $30,000. Marquez planned to introduce Sabon the next day to Hernandez, the person who had put him onto the murder-for-hire. Sabon agreed and asked to be paid upfront. FBI Miami coordinated with FBI Fort Myers and the Collier County Sheriff's Office to monitor Marquez's apartment in Naples. The office said Marquez, Hernandez, Sabon, and another individual were later detained. The release does not name that fourth person as one of the three the jury convicted.

The office said that when Hernandez was arrested, agents found a large printed photograph of the intended victim in his pockets. They also found latex gloves, a mask, a bandana, and more than $2,300 in Marquez's vehicle. Later investigation showed Hernandez was on the phone with the intended victim's brother when the group met in a grocery store parking lot earlier. The intended victim is not named. The brother is not named. WBBH reported those same facts from the release and did not add names. The case was investigated by the FBI in Miami and the FBI's Fort Myers office, with help from the Collier County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Redavid, Jesus M. Casas, and Patrick Darcey are prosecuting it.

What the jury decided is guilt on the two murder-for-hire counts the office named. What the court has not done is sentence them. The January date is when those hearings are set. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.