DETROIT (AP) - A Texas man who killed a suburban Detroit couple
has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
release.
     
Miguel Servando pleaded guilty in November to two counts of
murder-for-hire. The 41-year-old El Salvador native was hired to
kill Brij Chhabra and Aasha Chhabra to settle a financial dispute.
They were shot at their Troy home in March 2008.
     
U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen told Servando on Thursday he
deserved the death penalty for killing the Chhabras and might have
received it if he had not cooperated with federal and state
officials.
     
Michigan has abolished the death penalty for state offenses, but
the federal death penalty can be imposed for certain crimes.
     
The Detroit News reports Servando is cooperating against two
Houston men accused of hiring him.
     
     
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
     
AP-NY-07-03-09 0507EDT