Monticello, NY - On August 19, 2025, Sullivan County District Attorney Brian P. Conaty announced that a Sullivan County Grand Jury has returned a true bill of indictment charging Gilbert Maxi, 33, of Monticello, with Attempted Murder in the First Degree, a Class A-I Felony, and Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a Class B Felony, for soliciting and tendering payment to another individual for the murder of a third party. Although the targeted victim suffered life threatening injuries, such injuries did not prove to be fatal due to the quick response of the Village of Liberty Police Department and Empress EMS. Maxi now faces a maximum sentence of twenty-five years to life in state prison if convicted.
Maxi was arrested by members of the Village of Liberty Police Department and the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office following a two-year investigation into the murder-for-hire scheme. The shooting took place on May 20, 2023, at approximately 10 p.m., on South Main Street in the Village of Liberty. On August 14, 2025, Maxi was apprehended on these charges and subsequently remanded to the Sullivan County Jail without bail by the Honorable County Court Judge E. Danielle Jose-Decker.
Conaty said: “This was not just a crime against one victim – this was a deliberate and calculated attack on the rule of law itself. When someone believes they can buy and sell human life, they are a danger to every law-abiding citizen. This case represents a chilling example of premediated violence that has no place in our community. My Office will use every tool at our disposal to hold the defendant accountable for this heinous crime.”
Village of Liberty Chief D’Agata said: "I want to thank the District Attorney’s Office for their unwavering support and cooperation throughout this investigation, and I commend the detectives and officers of the Village of Liberty Police Department for their exceptional work. When the underlying shooting occurred on Main Street in May of 2023, our officers acted swiftly to apprehend the individual who nearly took another man’s life. Despite the initial arrest, our detectives refused to stop, relentlessly following leads that ultimately revealed, as alleged in the indictment, Gilbert Maxi’s role in planning and funding this attempted murder. Indiscriminate violence of this nature is despicable and will not be tolerated. This indictment, and our department’s long record of fully investigating violent crime and bringing offenders to justice, sends a clear message: If you choose to engage in violence in the Village of Liberty, you will be held to account. Whether you pull the trigger, plan the crime, or play any role in the violence, you will be found, arrested, and prosecuted."
The filing of an indictment is a mere accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
