Prosecutor: Alleged Ticket-Fixing Cop And His Wife Tried To Hire Hit Man From Behind Bars

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The police officer who prosecutors say sparked the NYPD's ticket-fixing scandal is now accused of plotting a murder.

You can add conspiracy to commit murder to the alleged dirty deeds of ex-cop Jose Ramos. His wife was also charged in the latest plot, CBS 2's Dave Carlin reported.

Ramos, 43, and Wanda Abreu, 39, are accused of conspiring to use money from his police pension to try to have one of the main witnesses against him murdered, prosecutors in the Bronx charged in an indictment unsealed on Thursday.

Both pleaded not guilty.

1010 WINS' Eileen Lehpamer Reports

Prosecutors said they have evidence of face-to-face meetings and telephone calls, some of which were recorded, at a detention facility on Rikers Island, where Ramos is awaiting trial. Ramos allegedly gave the green light for the hit with this quote: "Go ahead, do it, but do it right away."

"Ramos once said 'without him there is no case.' So they began conspiring to have him killed. They did not want to be involved in it themselves so they reached out to find people who would do it for them," Prosecutor Omer Wiczyk said.

Ramos and Abreu are also accused of trying to persuade another witness to lie and of planning to set up an alibi by arranging to be in Texas when the hit was carried out, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Abreu realized too late she was under surveillance.

"We're very shocked and my client denies all these charges and we're going to fight them," Ramos attorney Dawn M. Florio said.

In the previous indictments, Ramos is charged with drug and robbery offenses while on duty. Now with these stunning new charges, there will be no bail for him. His wife's bail was set at $100,000 or $500,000 bond.

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