Brooklyn Federal Prison Guard's Plot To Maim Ex-Wife Caught By Undercover Cops

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN, BROOKLYN — Officers arrested federal prison officer George Gonzalez for trying to hire a hitman to beat his ex-wife and her boyfriend just badly enough that they would live with lifelong pain, but not badly enough that they would die. Gonzalez's morbid plan that he discussed multiple times with undercover officers in December 2016 and January 2017 was foiled by those officers, the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn told Patch on Friday.

Gonzalez, a 53-year-old from Staten Island, worked at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for 17 years, according to a source at the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn. He tried to hire a hitman in December to gravely injure his ex-wife and her boyfriend so the two victims would both suffer "for the rest of their lives," according to the federal complaint record obtained by Patch.

Gonzalez had come up with a plan to stage a robbery at his wife's relative's home in Florida, the complaint said. He told the undercover officer whom he believed to be a hitman that he could keep whatever possessions he stole as compensation, according to the officer.

Gonzalez then met in person with the undercover officer and another officer whom he also believed to be hitman, the complaint said. He told the officers that they shouldn't kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend, but rather, they should paralyze and maim them and cause them lifelong pain.

According to the complaint, Gonzalez told the undercover cops he wanted them to conduct the assault in Florida, where his ex-spouse and her current partner lived, after a court date she would have with Gonzalez in February.

Gonzalez said to one of the undercover cops that he'd like to "teach this guy a very good lesson," the complaint said. He even suggested "a hammer to the spine" as a method of injuring his ex-wife and her boyfriend, the officers said in the complaint.

Gonzalez was held without bail Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn.

A request for comment to the Metropolitan Detention Center was not immediately returned.

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