An inmate who told authorities about Joseph Romano’s alleged plot to decapitate a federal judge and prosecutor insisted Thursday that he relayed the information out of concern for the officials’ safety, rather than to get a reduced sentence.
“I was scared to death someone was going to be killed over here. It was just bothering me horribly inside,” informant Gerald Machacek testified at the trial of Romano, who is accused of plotting to have Eastern District Judge Joseph Bianco (See Profile) and Eastern District Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Treinis Gatz murdered for their roles in Romano’s guilty plea in a coin fraud case.
