Goldmen Ex-CFO On Trial: Says He Was Pressured to Hire a Hitman
New York, Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- A lawyer for A.S. Goldmen & Co.'s former chief financial officer told a Manhattan jury today that his client was coerced into hiring a hit man to kill the judge presiding over his securities fraud trial.
Prosecutors say they have tapes of Stuart Winkler hiring a killer to slay New York State Supreme Court Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder. Winkler, who was being held on $1 million bail in a stock fraud case, believed another judge would set lower bail, prosecutors have said.
In opening statements this afternoon, one of Winkler's lawyers, Russell Gioiella, argued that Winkler was entrapped by another inmate at the Manhattan jail where he was being held pending trial of his fraud case.
``You'll hear of the constant pressure, you'll hear of the constant entreaties,'' Gioiella said. ``You'll hear he started to crack.''
But prosecutors say the expletive-laden tapes leave no doubt that Winkler offered fellow inmate Carl Legan $35,000 to murder Snyder. Legan, a career criminal who was reputed to be a killer- for-hire, secretly reached out to prosecutors and wore a wire as Winkler plotted the judge's assassination, prosecutors say.
``Do it. It's a done deal,'' Winkler said, according to Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Daniel McGillycuddy.
Winkler, arrested in August, faces up to 25 years if he's convicted on charges of conspiracy and criminal solicitation. Snyder, who once sentenced the head of a Dominican drug gang to 232 years in prison, was never harmed. The case is before Snyder's colleague, State Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman.
Stock Scheme
Winkler last year was among 49 people accused of helping A.S. Goldmen pull off a $100 million securities scam. He was released on $1 million bail, then violated his bail conditions by chartering a private plane for a Cayman Islands vacation, prosecutors said.
Snyder modified Winkler's bail, requiring that it be fully secured -- a condition he could not meet after nearly $8 million of his assets were frozen by the government in a related civil case. After he was taken into custody, Winkler began plotting Snyder's killing, prosecutors said.
While in prison, Winkler gave Legan information about security in Snyder's courtroom and he provided the telephone number of a company that would arrange payment for the hit, prosecutors said. Aware of Snyder's schedule, he also told Legan when the judge planned to take a vacation, prosecutors said.
``I hate her guts,'' Winkler said, according to McGillycuddy. ``I don't think I can get a fair trial.''
In its heyday, scandal-plagued A.S. Goldmen had offices in Manhattan; Naples, Florida; and Iselin, New Jersey, with nearly 100 brokers and 50,000 accounts. The firm was created in 1988 and effectively shut down 10 years later when authorities searched its offices.
Winkler, once a field supervisor in the National Association of Securities Dealers' New York office, is accused of helping Goldmen conceal its misdeeds from regulators. He faces 25 years in prison if convicted on the securities fraud charges.
Dec/07/2000 16:58 ET
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