A Philadelphia man was found guilty in a plot to kill multiple New Jersey government officials who were involved in his 2014 arson conviction, according to Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
Stephen Smink, 62, of Philadelphia, was convicted of conspiring to murder Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae, First Assistant Prosecutor Harold Shapiro, two Superior Court judges and an assistant prosecutor between January 2018 and December 2020, according to Platkin’s office.
Smink, a former South Jersey bowling alley owner, was previously sentenced to 15 years in state prison for orchestrating the plan to burn down a rival bowling alley with the help of two Philadelphia accomplices who pleaded guilty to starting that fire.
While serving his sentence at Northern State Prison in Newark in April 2019, the Office of Homeland Security notified state police that Smink had hired a cooperating witness in 2017 and 2018 to help carry out a murder-for-hire plot, Platkin’s office said.
The attorney general said investigators discovered he initially hired a member of the Latin Kings gang, who was also imprisoned, to execute the killings. That individual died before being able to take action.
Smink then turned to the cooperating witness to help find a hitman, Platkin’s office said. He planned to use sports memorabilia as payment and directed his mother to send letters on his behalf to further the scheme, prosecutors said.
In a meeting with an undercover officer, Smink allegedly said,” If everybody was together, wipe the whole place out and kill everybody, it just looks like somebody making an assault, a gang’s meeting. If somebody shot up the place, it looks like the gang getting retribution.”
On Aug. 15, Smink was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder, five counts of attempted murder, all in the first degree, and conspiracy to transport weapons.
“This defendant planned to kill public servants for doing their jobs and putting him behind bars for crimes he previously committed,” Platkin said in a news release. “State Police and prison officials found out about his plan and interceded before anyone was harmed. He now faces a lengthy prison sentence for his violent scheme.”
Smink now faces 30 years to life in prison and must serve at least 30 years before being eligible for parole. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26.