Insets, left to right: Michael Seery and Ricardo Obando (Harris County Sheriff's Office). Background: The stretch of Texas State Highway 99 near where an ill-fated murder-for-hire plan unfolded in Harris County, Tex. (Google Maps).
Two men in Texas will be spending the rest of their lives behind bars after a murder-for-hire plot targeting the wrong man.
In February, Ricardo Obando Jr., 52, who hails from Houston, and Michael Seery, 43, who hails from Katy — a suburb of Houston — were convicted on various counts against them over the plot that seriously injured an unidentified man who was on his way to work.
Obando was convicted of two counts related to the murder-for-hire conspiracy and three weapons charges, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. Seery was convicted of those same counts plus two additional counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced both defendants to life in prison. The court also sentenced each man to varying amounts of additional time behind bars which were assessed to run consecutively, meaning in addition to their life sentences.
The underlying incident occurred due to Seery's suspicions that his wife had been unfaithful to him while he was in prison. So, Seery contracted Obando for the killing job, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.
After months of planning, the violence culminated on the morning of Feb. 4, 2025, along Highway 99. Obando fired several shots into the unsuspecting victim's vehicle. The man suffered gunshot wounds to his neck, torso, and one hand but somehow survived.
Video from inside the victim's in-car camera recorded the harrowing moment the shots rang out and the ensuing 911 call, according to a courtroom report by Houston-based NBC affiliate KPRC.
Obando used a 3D printed gun and a silencer during the attack.
"An innocent victim was ambushed by gunfire during his daily commute—all because of one man's jealousy and faulty information," U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in a statement.
As it turned out, Seery got the intended victim all wrong because the actual target had recently moved to another address.
During the trial, federal prosecutors showed jurors cellphone evidence demonstrating Obando's extensive surveillance on the victim as well as an earlier failed attempt on the man's life, according to a courtroom report by Houston-area ABC affiliate KTRK.
The jury also had time to consider a considerably delayed reaction: During the trial, Seery's wife testified that the affair the man was upset about had occurred some 12 years ago.
"Testimony revealed that even in January 2025, a few weeks before the murder attempt, Seery was angry about the affair," the federal press release reads, "Evidence included multiple photos of various firearms and firearm parts found at Seery's home and storage unit. The jury also saw the 3D printer Seery used to manufacture the weapon and silencer that Obando is believed to have used."
During the trial, law enforcement testified that Seery paid Obando through his business to mask the nature of the payments for the hit.
Still, the trial was not a clean sweep for the state.
Jurors acquitted a third man, Matthew Rosas, 25, who was allegedly driving the vehicle when the shooting occurred.
"This was a very unique case and a great example of how local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies worked together to solve what was originally thought to be a road rage incident but turned out to be a highly planned assassination attempt on the wrong person," Jason Hudson, the Special Agent in Charge of the Houston FBI office, said in a statement on Facebook.