New York ( CNN ) -- A veteran New York policeman , jailed since October after being accused of involvement with drug dealers , is now charged with plotting to kill a witness who was to testify against him . Officer Jose Ramos , from the NYPD 's 40th Precinct in the Bronx , was charged Thursday along with his wife , Wanda Abreu , who is accused of using Ramos ' pension money to pay off a hit man . The district attorney 's office did not identify the hit man or the witness . `` Ramos once said , without him ( the witness ) , there is no case . And so they began conspiring to have that witness killed , '' Omer Wiczyk , assistant Bronx district attorney , testified in court . `` He said explicitly : Go ahead , do it ; but do it right away . '' Both Ramos and Abreu pleaded not guilty . `` We 're very shocked and my client denies all these charges , and we 're going to fight them , '' Dawn Florio , Ramos ' defense attorney , said Thursday . The Bronx district attorney 's office said in a news release that the couple attempted to arrange the killing `` through face-to-face meetings and telephone calls , some of which were recorded at a detention facility on Rikers Island , where Ramos is awaiting trial . '' Court papers say the conversations took place between September and May . Ramos and Abreu were charged with three counts of conspiracy in the second degree , and one of criminal solicitation in the second degree . If convicted of conspiracy , the most serious of the charges , they could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison , officials said . Ramos already faced numerous charges of attempted robbery , attempted grand larceny , transportation of what he believed to be drugs to drug dealers and revealing the identity of a confidential source . Those actions are alleged to have occurred from March to November 2009 . He was investigated after an anonymous tip to police . Prosecutors say they also stumbled upon an alleged ticket-fixing scandal over the course of the investigation of Ramos , and officials have since accused 16 other police officers of getting rid of tickets for friends or family . The ticket-fixing charges are unrelated to Ramos . Bail for Ramos from the charges filed against him in October remains at $ 500,000 cash .
A New York Police officer and his wife tried to arrange the killing , prosecutors say . `` We 're very shocked '' at the charges , Officer Jose Ramos ' attorney says . Ramos has been in jail since October after being accused of involvement with drug dealers .