Ahead of sentencing, man who pleaded guilty tells US judge he planned the operation alone

Nikhil Gupta, who pleaded guilty in February 2026 in the United States in an assassination-attempt case and is awaiting sentencing, has said that he planned the operation on his own, in a remorseful letter to US District Judge Victor Marrero ahead of the November 20 sentencing. The claim that he acted alone is his own assertion in the letter, not a finding of the court. In the letter he apologised and opened up about the psychological turmoil he went through after his initial arrest, admitting he did not recognise the person he had become in early 2023.

"I had lost my mind... wish I could turn back time to 2023 and undo my mistakes," he wrote, describing how heavy drinking and personal struggles had clouded his judgement. He revealed that he faced severe suicidal thoughts during his early days in custody, constantly worrying about the pain he had caused his wife, children, mother, family and two cats.

Detailing his time in detention - including solitary confinement in the Czech Republic and a subsequent placement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn - he described turning to meditation, yoga and spiritual books to cope with isolation and constant threats of violence from fellow inmates. For several weeks, he wrote, he could not even contact his family to let them know he was alive, because of the many restrictions on him.

Sentencing on November 20

The sentencing comes amid high-profile legal filings. Federal prosecutors have recently requested that Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the target of the alleged plot, be granted 20 minutes to address the court directly. Concluding his letter to the judge, Gupta stated that he would accept whatever judgement the court handed down.