Indiana man gets 30 years for murder-for-hire scheme

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PRINCETON — A southwestern Indiana man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he tried to hire a hit man to kill his ex-wife.

The Princeton Daily Clarion reports (http://bit.ly/QswZ8b ) 31-year-old Jason Ray Gardner sobbed as he told a Gibson County judge why he tried to hire a man who turned out to be an undercover police officer to shoot his ex-wife, Teresa Gardner.

But a detective testified at Thursday's sentencing hearing that the Princeton man was cold, heartless and direct when he made the deal in parking lot this spring.

Gardner pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy. He and his wife, 42-year-old Pamela Gardner of Princeton were arrested in April on the same felony charge. Her case is pending.

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