Pool Hall Owner Accused of Murder Plots in Toms River

The owner of a pool hall is accused of putting out a contract on his estranged wife and a second person while he was an inmate in the Ocean County Jail.

An Ocean County grand jury charged Francis J. Preto, 59, now a state prison inmate in Wrightstown, with plotting between May 1 and July 28 in Toms River to murder his wife and attempting to kill her. Petro owned a pool hall in Ewing Township, N.J.

Between November of 2008 and March 13, 2009, also in Toms River, Preto is accused of conspiring to murder a person identified in the indictment as T.M. and with trying to kill T.M. His alleged co-conspirator is not identified by name in the latest indictment against Preto, but is an "individual whose identify is known to the grand jury,’’ according to the indictment.

Bail on the murder conspiracy charges was set at $1.25 million.

Preto was arrested Feb. 22, 2008 in Brick after police were called to the Evergreen Woods condominiums to investigate reports of gunshots. Residents there had grabbed and restrained Preto, who police say had .32-caliber bullets with him. No gun was found, but he had a length of pipe and Molotov cocktail incendiary device. Police believe he used the pipe to smash the windows out of a vehicle of a friend of his sister-in-law, and planned to torch the vehicle.

At the time of his arrest, Preto was facing charges he threatened to kill men who owed him money, violated a restraining order obtained by his wife, and drug and weapons offenses linked to his Players Club Pool Hall in Ewing. That was where police said they seized 150 guns, 10,000 bullets, marijuana and cocaine.

Preto is serving a 7-year sentence for drug possession, 4 years for aggravated assault, and 4 years for weapons possession in Mercer County. He was eligible for parole on those charges on Oct. 13 with a maximum release date of March 28, 2017