The Associated Press
RIVERHEAD, New York- A New York Police Department recruit who plotted to have his ex-girlfriend killed was being held on $250,000 (euro196,572) cash bail or $1.5 million (euro1.18 million) bond after pleading not guilty Monday to a grand jury indictment’s conspiracy charge, prosecutors said.
Kabeer Din, who was born in Pakistan, was arrested last month after meeting with an undercover police officer he thought was a hitman to discuss the killing of his former girlfriend for $3,000 (euro2,359), police and the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.
Din, 22, who entered the NYPD’s academy in July after serving as an officer in Baltimore, wanted the woman killed after she told him she did not want to marry him, the authorities said.
At a meeting near the Long Island Expressway in Holtsville, Din gave the fake hitman a photograph of the woman and $200 (euro157) in cash and his credit card as a down payment on the hit, police said after his arrest.
“He repeated to the undercover officer that he wanted the girlfriend killed,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
Din suspended without pay. A judge took his passport and issued an order of protection for the woman.
Before joining the NYPD, Din was a police officer for about a year in Baltimore, where he received “outstanding recommendations,” Browne said.
“Nothing untoward surfaced” in his background checks, the spokesman said.
Din’s attorney, Craig Purcell, said the accusations against his client were “totally out of character” and noted he had an “unblemished record” before his arrest.
“He’s squeaky clean,” Purcell said.
Din, who did not immediately post the bail or bond, is due back in court Aug. 29.