Judge rejects Mass. man’s murder-for-hire plea

BEVERLY, Mass. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to accept a plea deal for a Massachusetts man charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill his 9-year-old daughter, estranged wife and mother-in-law.

Judge Douglas Woodlock says the proposed 12-year sentence is too lenient. His ruling Monday means that 50-year-old John Orlowski, of Beverly, can withdraw his guilty plea and ask for a trial.

Prosecutors say Orlowski offered $2,000 in 2007 to a former gang member he met jail.

The FBI says Orlowski told the gang member he wanted his wife and mother-in-law shot in the head, but asked that his daughter be shot in the chest so she could have an open casket at her funeral.

Authorities say the plot was uncovered when the gang member told his mother about it and she called the FBI.