Husband sentenced in Detroit hit man case

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DETROIT, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A Detroit judge sentenced businessman Robert Bashara to prison for trying to kill the hit man he had hired to murder his wife.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow gave Bashara 20 years at his sentencing Monday for soliciting another hit man to kill Joseph Gentz, a handyman who told authorities he killed Jane Bashara in a plot orchestrated by her husband.

"I understand fully what I did was a crime, and something I will regret for the rest of my life," Bashara, 55, Gross Pointe Park, told Morrow during the hearing. After learning his fate, Bashara said "I can't believe this" as he was led from the courtroom, the Detroit News said.

Gentz has told police he strangled 54-year-old Jane Bashara in her car in January after being pressured into it by Bashara. Gentz is awaiting trial on charges that include conspiracy, which the Detroit Free Press said indicated prosecutors could charge Bashara at a later date with direct participation in the killing and send him to prison for life if convicted.