Michael P. Drescher Acting United States Attorney for the District of Vermont | U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont
Serhat Gumrukcu, 43, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to life in prison on November 24, 2025, for his involvement in the murder-for-hire plot that led to the death of Gregory Davis in Barnet, Vermont. Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss delivered the sentence after a jury convicted Gumrukcu on April 18, 2025, of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Three co-conspirators received sentences in September 2025. Berk Eratay was sentenced to 110 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Jerry Banks received a sentence of 200 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Aron Ethridge was sentenced to 140 months in prison with five years of supervised release.
Court records and trial evidence showed that Gumrukcu arranged for Davis’s murder because Davis had threatened legal action against him over a failed oil commodities transaction. The wire fraud conviction was related to fraudulent activities connected to this oil deal. Prosecutors said Gumrukcu wanted Davis silenced as he negotiated a multi-million-dollar biotech merger tied to his claimed discovery of an HIV cure.
Gumrukcu enlisted his friend Berk Eratay to help organize the killing through intermediary Aron Ethridge, who then recruited Jerry Banks as the hitman. On January 6, 2018, Banks posed as a Deputy U.S. Marshal and abducted Davis from his home in Danville, Vermont. The next day, Davis’s body was found in a snowbank near his home in Barnet. Investigators uncovered emails and messages showing conflict between Gumrukcu and Davis over the failed oil deal and interviewed Gumrukcu twice; he made false statements during both interviews. Evidence such as cellphone data and financial records linked all four men—Gumrukcu, Eratay, Ethridge, and Banks—to the crime.
At sentencing, Melissa Davis—the widow of Gregory Davis—addressed the court: She thanked Vermont State Police “for every call, every update, every reassurance that you were working tirelessly to find who murdered Gregg”; she expressed gratitude to the FBI for its “coordination across state lines,” “professionalism,” and its “relentless pursuit of truth [that] made all the difference”; she also praised the prosecution team: “strength, commitment, and unwavering pursuit of justice over these many years will stay with me for the rest of my life. I watched the way you prosecuted this case during those five weeks with excellence, clarity, and conviction. There were moments I sat in that courtroom simply proud—knowing God had appointed each of you to pursue justice for Gregg.” Melissa Davis further thanked her victim advocate team members from the United States Marshals Service and Chief Judge Reiss.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher acknowledged law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Vermont State Police for their collaborative investigation into those responsible for Gregory Davis’s death: Gumrukcu as financier; Eratay and Ethridge as intermediaries; Banks as hitman. Drescher also recognized support from Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; along with other law enforcement partners nationwide.
The government’s case at trial was presented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul J. Van de Graaf and Zachary Stendig with assistance from Karen Arena-Leene and Erin Thompson-Moran. Serhat Gumrukcu was represented by Susan Marcus Esq., and Ethan Balogh Esq.
