Man Convicted For Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Prosecutors, Judges In South Jersey

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NJ — A Philadelphia man was found guilty of orchestrating a plot to murder the Cumberland County prosecutor and several judges and attorneys while he was imprisoned for the arson of a bowling alley, officials said Wednesday.

Stephen Smink, 62, was convicted at trial Aug. 15 for five counts of first-degree attempted murder and two fourth-degree weapons charges.

Smink, the former owner of a South Jersey bowling alley, was convicted in 2014 for orchestrating a plan to burn down a rival bowling alley. Two co-defendants accused of starting the fire also pleaded guilty.

The arson plot landed Smink a 15-year prison sentence. A few years later, he orchestrated a murder-for-hire plot against against Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae, First Assistant Prosecutor Harold Shapiro, and two Superior Court judges and an assistant prosecutor who the state Attorney General's Office didn't name.

Every targeted official was involved in Smink's 2014 conviction.

In April 2019, the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness discovered that Smink hired a cooperating witness about a year earlier to carry out the murder-for-hire plot.

Smink originally hired a member of the Latin Kings gang, who was also imprisoned, for the hit, according to the AG's office. But the gang member died before carrying out any killings.

Then, Smink hired a cooperating witness to find a hitman. Smink oversaw the transfer of sports memorabilia to pay for the hits.

In a meeting with an undercover officer, authorities say Smink said the following:

• "If everybody was together, wipe the whole place out and kill everybody it just looks like somebody making an assault, a gangs meeting."
• "If somebody shot up the place it looks like the gang getting retribution."

Smink was incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton from 2014-23, according to public records. After that, he was detained in the Cumberland County Jail, where he remains behind bars.

He will face 30 years to life in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.

The case was tried in Atlantic County Superior Court.