Doctor Convicted in Dark Web Plot Loses License Appeal
Former Spokane doctor Ronald Ilg lost his bid to restore his medical license while serving a federal sentence over a dark web murder-for-hire plot.
A former Spokane physician convicted in a dark web murder-for-hire case has lost his latest attempt to regain his medical license while serving a federal prison sentence.
On July 19, 2026, The Spokesman-Review reported that the Washington Court of Appeals, Division III, upheld a decision by the Washington Medical Commission to revoke the medical license of Dr. Ronald C. Ilg, ruling that his criminal conduct demonstrated he was unfit to practice medicine.
Ilg, 59, is a former pediatrician and neonatal specialist who previously worked at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital and served as executive director of Maddie’s Place, a Spokane nonprofit that provides care for babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
The case stems from a federal investigation into events that unfolded in 2021, when Ilg attempted to hire someone through the dark web to carry out violent attacks during his divorce. Prosecutors said he sought to have his estranged wife kidnapped and wanted another physician to have her hands broken so she would no longer be able to perform medical procedures.
The person Ilg believed he had hired was, in fact, cooperating with the FBI, and none of the planned attacks were ever carried out.
In 2023, Ilg pleaded guilty to two counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce. He was later sentenced in federal court and is currently serving his sentence at the Federal Detention Center in Seattle. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, his projected release date is February 8, 2027.
Following his criminal conviction, the Washington Medical Commission revoked his license to practice medicine. Ilg later challenged that decision, arguing that his criminal conduct occurred outside of his medical practice and should not permanently prevent him from working as a physician.
The Court of Appeals disagreed.
In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel concluded that the commission acted within its authority when it revoked Ilg’s license. The court found that the nature of his offenses reflected directly on his judgment, professionalism and fitness to practice medicine, regardless of whether the crimes occurred in a clinical setting.
The ruling means Ilg remains barred from practicing medicine in Washington unless a future court or the Washington Medical Commission overturns the decision.
Although the planned attacks were never carried out, the case drew national attention because it involved the use of the dark web to arrange violent crimes against two intended victims. Federal prosecutors argued throughout the criminal proceedings that Ilg’s actions represented a serious threat, despite the fact that the intended hitman was working with law enforcement.
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