Hartford Man Found Guilty of Witness Murder Plot

HARTFORD, CT- A Hartford man was found guilty of planning a second murder in an attempt to silence a witness in his murder trial.

Ian Francis was shot in December 2010 and succumbed to his injuries. Dominique Mack aka "Lil Sweets," 26, was arrested in June 2011 and a firearm was found that was determined to be the murder weapon, according to the U.S. Attorney District of Connecticut office.

The investigation revealed that Mack conspired with Keronn Miller and others to murder Francis in order to prevent him from providing information to law enforcement about Mack's whereabouts. Mack was wanted in connection with a federal drug conspiracy case.

Miller had lured Francis to the location on Sigourney Street knowing that the plan was to murder Francis when he arrived there.

Miller pleaded guilty in December 2014 to the murder and shortly after the government received information about a plot to kill a witness for Mack's upcoming trial.

Mack and Tyquan Lucien were being held at a detention facility in Rhode Island. Lucien revealed to another inmate a plot to kill someone who was identified as a government witness in the case against Miller.

An undercover officer posed as a hit man and met with Lucien in the visiting area of the detention facility. Lucien instructed the man to kill a potential government witness and relayed the plan to Mack.

Mack was found guilty by a jury of two counts of conspiracy to commit witness tampering by committing first degree murder, an offense that carries a mandatory lifetime term of imprisonment. The jury also found Mack guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

The jury found Mack not guilty of two counts of tampering with a witness.

Sentencing is scheduled for July. Lucien pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit witness tampering by first degree murder.