CRIME BLOTTER

Spokane doctor loses license after hiring dark web hitman to addict ex-wife to heroin, force her to sleep with him

Jul 21, 2026, 11:34 AM | Updated: 3:08 pm

spokane doctor dark web hitman...

Surgical implements are seen on a tray during surgery. (Photo: Ritesh Shukla, Getty Images)

(Photo: Ritesh Shukla, Getty Images)

The permanent suspension of a Spokane doctor’s medical license was upheld last week after the man was convicted of a scheme that involved hiring a hitman to drug his ex-wife and her son with heroin, intending to get them addicted to the substance, and also having his estranged wife held hostage with hopes she would have intercourse with him “three times.”

In January and February 2021, former pediatrician Ronald Ilg used the dark web to solicit a hitman with the intent to injure a former colleague who previously worked at Ilg’s medical practice, the Washington appeals court announced.

Using the name “Scar215,” Ilg paid the hitman $2,000 in Bitcoin and instructed the hitman to carry out an attack where his former colleague should “be given a significant beating that is obvious,” and the beating should “injure both hands significantly or break the hands.”

Former colleague was only the first target in Spokane doctor’s dark web scheme

Ilg also asked for confirmation of the assault and indicated that he had a “more complicated job” for the hitman if the assault on his former colleague were to be successful.

In late March 2021, Ilg consulted the dark web again to coordinate an attack against his estranged wife while their divorce proceedings were underway. Ilg paid roughly $60,000 in Bitcoin to a hitman for this attack.

The hitman was instructed to “kidnap [his estranged wife], extort her, inject her with heroin, and hold her hostage for seven days.” Ilg also created a structured bonus scheme if other demands were met within two weeks of her release.

The bonuses would be paid to the hitman if his estranged wife withdrew all court motions and mediated agreements, moved back in with Ilg and had intercourse with him “at least three times within the 2-week time frame,” refused to tell anyone about the kidnapping, and became addicted to heroin under the hitman’s guidance. The hitman was also ordered to supply Ilg with photographs and videos of her using the substance.

Additionally, Ilg offered other bonuses for planting drugs and needles with his estranged wife’s DNA throughout her home. The hitman was instructed to use “all means necessary” to accomplish Ilg’s goals against his wife, including “threatening to severely beat [her] father, slaughtering [her] dog, and threatening to cause [her] older son to become addicted to heroin.”

Dark web scheme eventually caught up with Ilg in federal court

In August 2022, former pediatrician Ronald Ilg pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of threats in interstate commerce and was sentenced to 96 months of confinement.

Following the guilty plea, the Commission charged Ilg with unprofessional conduct. Ilg filed a motion to dismiss the charges by arguing that his actions were not related to his practice as a physician and surgeon. The Commission subsequently moved for partial summary judgment.

In July, Ilg’s motion to dismiss was denied, and the Commission’s motion for partial summary judgment was granted. The presiding officer found that Ilg’s conduct, though it was not directed toward a patient, offered a reasonable concern that Ilg would abuse the status of his profession to harm the public, thus lowering the standing of the medical profession from the public’s perspective.

As a result, the Commission revoked Ilg’s license to practice as a physician and surgeon in Washington.

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