By NANCY HILER
Santhosh Paul, 32, had ?pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy and three counts of criminal facilitation, despite objections from prosecutors who wanted to pursue attempted murder charges, which would have carried a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.
Although Assistant District Attorney Anne Donnelly told Nassau County Court Judge Tammy S. Robbins that the scheme was as close to attempted murder as it gets, Robbins accepted the plea agreement, according to a wire story.
Just before he was arrested and charged with second-degree conspiracy on Dec. 20, Paul told an undercover police detective posing as a hit man that he wanted his wife dead "before the holidays." Their surreptitious meeting took place in the parking lot of a Uniondale McDonald's, in Paul's car - with his then 3-year-old son in the backseat, a spokesman for the D.A.'s office, Eric Phillips, said at the time.
Paul promised to pay the undercover detective $200,000 after his wife was murdered, according to the D.A.'s office. "Paul gave the detective a $2,500 deposit and a copy of his wife's $1 million life insurance policy, for which he is the sole beneficiary, as proof he would be able to make the payment after the killing," read a statement released by the D.A.'s office.
Paul also provided a photo of his wife, her business card and license plate number and her daily schedule, and asked that she be stabbed in the heart, the report said. Police verified that they located an insurance policy for $1 million in the name of Paul's 30-year-old wife, Tina, and that he was the sole beneficiary, which, investigators believe, provided a strong motive for the alleged plot. Two other life insurance policies - which, in addition to the $1 million policy, totaled $3.8 million - were found later, prosecutors said in court the day Paul pleaded guilty.
Up until his April 30 plea appearance, Paul, the owner of a mortgage insurance company, maintained his innocence. His wife did not attend the sentencing on on May 30, but continues to support her husband, according to published reports. Her attorney, Benjamin Petrofsky, said in a statement, "Mrs. Paul, in quiet reflection, continues to love her husband and wishes to visit him as soon as possible." Petrofsky added that Tina Paul is trying to modify an order of protection put in place by prosecutors in view of the evidence implicating her husband, which includes videotapes of the meeting between him and the undercover detective.
As he was being led out of the courtroom after his sentencing, Paul said of his wife, "I love her very much, and I want to put this past our family and move on," according to the wire story.
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