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June 15, 2006

W. Warwick man gets 30 years for hiring hitman to kill wife

WARWICK -- Thomas J. Lewis was sentenced this afternoon to 30 years in prison, six months after admitting he hired a former drug addict to kill his wife.

Lewis had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in exchange for a prison term of no more than 35 years, then tried to retract his plea. Today in Superior Court, Judge Melanie Wilk Thunberg gave Lewis five years less than the maximum.

Lewis, 44, of West Warwick admitted in January that he hired Thomas M. Kenna, a former drug addict from Arizona, to kill his wife, Kris Sao Bento. Kenna tried unsuccessfully to commit the crime in July 2004 with a hammer.

Kenna has also pleaded guilty in the same deal offered to Lewis. Kenna is scheduled to be sentenced later in the month.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Benjamin N. Gedan

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 4:35 PM | Permalink

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