Alleged ticket-fix cop tried to have witness killed: Prosecutors

A cop already facing ticket-fixing charges is in more hot water after prosecutors busted him for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to bump off a witness from prison. Jose Ramos and his wife, Wanda Abreu, were charged Thursday in a Bronx court for trying to have the unidentified witness murdered and setting up alibis so the killing couldn't be linked back to them, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said Thursday. They also tried to convince another witness to lie, Johnson said, and tried to fund the hit with Ramos' police pension money.

In court papers, Ramos, 43, and Abreu, 39, are documented having at least 16 conversations between February and May about the murder during face-to-face meetings and phone calls from Rikers Island, some of which were recorded. Abreu suggested they hide out in Texas when the hit took place, and later set up a meeting to pay an unidentified person for the killing, according to the indictment released Thursday. Ramos told his wife the fee was "no big deal," and said he wanted the killing to take place "right away," according to the documents, which did not detail how much the would-be hit man was offered. "He has sold his soul," Bronx Assistant District Attorney Omer Wiczyk said in court on Thursday, according to reports.

The new charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years. A judge ordered Ramos to stay in jail, where he was already being held because he didn't come up with $500,000 bail, and set bail for Abreu at $500,000 bond.

On top of the ticket fixing and murder charges, Ramos already faces accusations he tried to transport large quantities of heroin, shook down purported drug dealers and committed a robbery while on the job.