By Basil Katz
NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A New York City police officer
pleaded not guilty on Monday to conspiring to kidnap, torture,
cook and eat women.
Gilberto Valle, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged and
arrested in October with conspiring to cross state lines to
kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal
database.
Prosecutors said some of the women were acquaintances of
Valle but it was not clear if he knew or had met all of them.
Valle, who an official said had no prior criminal record, was
not charged with carrying out any of his suspected plans.
At a brief hearing Monday in U.S. District Court in
Manhattan, Valle's attorney, Julia Gatto, told the judge she
would again seek to have her client freed on bail after two
other judges previously denied her request.
Investigators uncovered a file on Valle's computer
containing the names and pictures of at least 100 women, and the
addresses and physical descriptions of some of them, according
to the criminal complaint. It said he had undertaken
surveillance of some of the women at their places of employment
and their homes.
Gatto argues that Valle, a 6-1/2 year NYPD veteran, was all
talk and should be released on bail.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The case is U.S. v. Gilberto Valle, U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New York, No. 12-cr-847.
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