NEW YORK COUPLE SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR CARJACKING RESULTING IN DEATH OF WIFE’S EX-HUSBAND

BEACON, NY — August 14, 2026 — A husband and wife convicted of orchestrating the 2020 killing of the wife’s former husband and attempting to conceal the crime have each been sentenced to life in federal prison.

Jamie Orsini, 38, and Nicholas Orsini, 36, both of Amsterdam, New York, were convicted following a two-week trial in 2024 before U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern. The jury convicted both defendants of carjacking resulting in death and conspiracy to commit carjacking in connection with the death of Jamie Orsini’s former husband, Steven Kraft.

Judge Halpern sentenced Jamie Orsini on August 11, 2026, and Nicholas Orsini on August 13, 2026. Each defendant received life in prison followed by five years of supervised release for carjacking resulting in death, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119(3). That sentence will run concurrently with five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

Evidence presented at trial established that Jamie and Nicholas Orsini planned Kraft’s killing before carrying it out inside their Beacon residence. Kraft was Jamie Orsini’s former husband and the father of two of her children.

Before the killing, the couple purchased a 1,000-square-foot tarp, a full-body coverall, and a burner phone that could not be readily connected to them. They also conducted repeated dry runs to practice moving Kraft’s vehicle and developed a plan intended to make investigators believe Kraft had left the Beacon residence alive.

On April 28, 2020, Kraft arrived at the Orsinis’ home to drop off his children. Jamie and Nicholas Orsini killed him inside the residence and took his vehicle and one of his cellphones.

Nicholas Orsini drove Kraft’s vehicle from Beacon to Newburgh and abandoned it in a neighborhood selected to support the couple’s false account of what had happened. He disposed of Kraft’s cellphone and used the burner phone to call a taxi for transportation back to Beacon. He discarded the burner phone before entering the taxi.

Nicholas Orsini left his personal phone at the couple’s residence during the trip. Jamie Orsini sent messages to and from that phone to create a false digital record suggesting Nicholas had remained home throughout the night.

The couple continued concealing the crime after Kraft’s death. Trial evidence showed that they purchased another burner phone, repeatedly traveled to and from upstate New York, and constructed large homemade incinerators as part of their effort to destroy and dispose of physical evidence, including Kraft’s body.

Jamie Orsini also sent text messages intended to create the impression that she believed Kraft remained alive. When questioned by police after Kraft’s vehicle was discovered in Newburgh, she claimed that she did not know what had happened to him and attempted to direct suspicion toward events that could have occurred after he supposedly left her residence.

Kraft’s body has never been recovered. Federal authorities continue asking anyone with information concerning the location of his remains to report it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said the sentences hold Jamie and Nicholas Orsini accountable for taking Kraft’s life, devastating his family, and leaving his relatives without answers concerning the location of his body. McDonald stated that the sentences provide a measure of finality, although no prison term can reverse Kraft’s death or erase the suffering endured by his family.

FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. described Kraft’s death as a tragic and senseless crime. He credited the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force and its local and state law enforcement partners for their work investigating the case and bringing the defendants to justice.

New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James said the life sentences ensure the defendants cannot commit another such crime. He also recognized the work of state police personnel, federal prosecutors, and participating law enforcement agencies.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the New York State Police. The Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, the City of Beacon Police Department, the Town of Marlborough Police Department, and the City of Newburgh Police Department also assisted.

The case was prosecuted through the White Plains Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaiya Arroyo, Michael D. Maimin, and Kathryn P. Wheelock handled the prosecution with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Shannon Becker. The federal release identified Nicholas Biase and Shelby Wratchford as press contacts.

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