SPOKANE — A former Spokane doctor is going to federal prison for eight years for trying to hire hit men on the dark web to kidnap his estranged wife and assault a former colleague.

Ronald Craig Ilg, 56, a former neonatologist in Spokane, transmitted dozens of messages in early 2021 through the dark web as part of a plot to hire someone to kidnap his estranged wife and injure a former professional colleague, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Washington. Using the moniker “Scar215” and password “Mufassa$$” to conceal his identity, Ilg sent more than $60,000 in Bitcoin in his schemes.

Senior U.S. District Judge William Fremming Nielsen on Tuesday, Jan, 24, sentenced Ilg. The eight years in federal prison was the highest sentence available under the terms of Ilg’s plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. In addition to the prison sentence, the judge ordered Ilg to pay more than $25,000 in restitution and a $100,000 fine. Ilg also will spend three years on federal supervision following his release from prison.

Ilg directed the one hitmen to assault a Spokane-area doctor, specifying the victim “should be given a significant beating that is obvious. It should injure both hands significantly or break the hands,” according to the press release. Ilg paid more than $2,000 in bitcoin, sent the purported hitmen the victim’s address, and provided the hitmen with a link to the victim’s picture.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also reported Ilg also wanted to see evidence of the crime and stated if this went well, “I have another, more complicated job” for an “entirely different target with entirely different objectives.”

Ilg also sought a hitman to kidnap his estranged wife and inject with heroin — all so she would drop divorce proceedings against Ilg and return to a failed relationship with him. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also reported Ilg was subject to a no-contact order but devised a “bonus structure if the victim was in fact kidnapped and certain goals were achieved.” And again he promised more jobs if the crime went well.

Assistant United States Attorney Richard Barker credited the victims in the case. Even before trying to hire hitmen, he said, Ilg sent his victims harassing text messages, placed GPS trackers on their car, and subjected them to domestic abuse. And after his arrest, according to Barker, Ilg tried to sell his story to the media.