A Lake County man was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in state prison, closing the chapter on a violent “scripted betrayal” that saw a woman lure her friend into a hail of gunfire to satisfy her boyfriend’s jealousy.
Brandon Pirela, 26, received the two-decade sentence on April 14, following a January jury trial where he was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and conspiracy to commit murder.
His sentencing follows that of his accomplice and girlfriend, 23-year-old Arianna Selina Gajraj, who was ordered in March to serve 36 months in prison followed by six years of probation.
The investigation, a joint effort by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, revealed a plot that began just two days after the couple had reconciled.
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On December 1, 2023, the victim picked up Gajraj in Clermont to talk about threatening social media messages he had been receiving from Pirela. According to court records, the victim was nervous, but Gajraj assured him that Pirela had no way of tracking them.
At approximately 1:53 a.m., while the two were parked on Peppermill Trail, a white Toyota Camry registered to Pirela pulled in front of them.
Pirela stepped out of the vehicle and unleashed what investigators described as a “hail of more than 20 gunshots” from a handgun with an extended magazine.
Despite 13 bullets striking the victim’s car and several others hitting a nearby work truck and mailbox, the victim miraculously escaped injury. He managed to reverse the vehicle and flee the scene, dropping Gajraj off at a subdivision before reporting the attack to the Clermont Police Department.
The case was solidified by a digital paper trail. Investigators discovered that Gajraj used a texting app to communicate with Pirela for hours leading up to the shooting.
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The messages detailed a plan to kill the victim, with Gajraj eventually suggesting her own strategy: having Pirela call her from a blocked number to earn the victim’s trust while she fed Pirela their exact coordinates. Her final location update was sent just 12 minutes before the ambush.
While Gajraj initially denied involvement, she eventually cooperated with the State. Assistant State Attorneys Eddie Moffitt and Monica Bodnar utilized her testimony against Pirela during his trial.
Gajraj, who was credited with 602 days of time already served, has less than a year and a half remaining on her prison sentence. Pirela was transported yesterday to begin serving his 25-year term in the Florida Department of Corrections.
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