A disgraced officer formerly assigned to Ozone Park’s 106th Precinct has been indicted on federal charges that she allegedly attempted to hire a hitman to kill her estranged husband and her boyfriend’s young daughter.
Valerie Cincinelli, 34, was arrested back on May 17 in a sting operation at her Long Island home, the climax of a four-month investigation after her boyfriend tipped off federal agents to the plot.
On May 29, a federal grand jury in Central Islip returned a three-count indictment charging Cincinelli with two counts of murder for hire and a count of obstruction of justice. She will likely be arraigned tomorrow on the indictment in federal court, May 31, according to sources familiar with the case.
If convicted of the charges, she could face a maximum of 40 years behind bars, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York indicated.
According to the original criminal complaint, the twice-married Cincinelli had a “volatile history” with her boyfriend and her two former husbands, both of whom had sought orders of protection against her.
Federal agents noted that the NYPD had also brought her up on department charges for “sharing confidential information with her boyfriend and violating other Police Department rules.” Following her May 17 arrest, the NYPD suspended Cincinelli without pay.
Prosecutors said the murder-for-hire plot came together in February of this year, when Cincinelli allegedly asked her boyfriend to hire a hitman to kill her second husband and the boyfriend’s young daughter. The boyfriend told her that he knew someone who would do it for $7,000.
Authorities said that Cincinelli withdrew $7,000 in cash from her bank account on Feb. 18 and provided it to her boyfriend to give the hitman as a payment. Cincinelli and her boyfriend would repeatedly discuss the murder plot numerous times between February and May, and some of the conversations were consensually recorded.
On the morning of May 17, a detective with the Suffolk County Police Department — acting at the FBI’s direction — visited Cincinelli at her home and told her that her estranged husband had been murdered. Her boyfriend was with her at the time — and wearing a wire to capture the events, prosecutors noted.
Soon after the detective departed, authorities said, Cincinelli allegedly began discussing her alibi with her boyfriend should she be formally questioned about the apparent homicide. Nearly 40 minutes later, an undercover FBI agent, posing as the alleged hitman, sent a text message and photo to the boyfriend’s phone. The boyfriend then showed Cincinelli the image, which depicted her estranged husband appearing dead, and the text demand for another $3,000 in cash to kill the boyfriend’s daughter.
Cincinelli allegedly told her boyfriend to delete the text and photos in case law enforcement agents were to seize his phone as part of the investigation. The officer was arrested a short time later.
While on the job in the 106th Precinct back in 2017, Cincinelli helped collar an alleged bank robber in Howard Beach who attempted to use a fake bomb to steal cash. A dye pack that a bank employee provided him with the stolen loot blew up in his face, and helped lead cops to him.
