Ex-CFO Accused of Plotting to Have Judge Killed

The former chief financial officer of the now-defunct investment firm A.S. Goldmen & Co., accused last year with 33 other people of committing massive stock fraud, was indicted separately Wednesday for allegedly conspiring to murder the judge presiding over his criminal case. Stuart Winkler, 47, of Marlboro, N.J., pleaded not guilty to charges that he hired a contract killer to murder New York state Supreme Court Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder. He faces up to 25 years in state prison if convicted on the top count of conspiracy. He is also charged with criminal solicitation. In New York state, the Supreme Court is a trial court, and the highest judicial body is the Court of Appeals. Winkler has been held at Manhattan House of Detention since April after violating his original bail conditions by leaving the country, according to the indictment. His bondsman withdrew his bond because of Winkler’s unauthorized trip to the Cayman Islands with his family and friends, and Snyder set new bail conditions of a $1 million cash bond, which Winkler was unable to post. The hit man was not identified by prosecutors, and they did not reveal how much money Winkler offered to have the judge killed.