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COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A federal judge in Covington has sentenced a Fort Thomas man to eight years in prison for trying to hire a murder.

A jury in April convicted 50-year-old Brian Curtis Huff of attempting to hire a hitman to kill the biological father of Huff's stepson. Huff was also convicted of having a stolen handgun with the serial number filed off of it.

The Kentucky Enquirer reported that U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves said in sentencing Huff on Monday that Huff seemed to be motivated by the belief that his autistic stepson was being abused by the boy's biological father. Reeves noted such motivation isn't an excuse to break the law.

Authorities said Huff offered an aquaintance $5,000 to kill the biological father, then upped it to $6,000.

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