By: Yuritza Arroyo
Federal authorities announced that a Middlesex County man was sentenced to 97 months in prison for plotting to pay a purported hitman to kill his ex-wife and her daughter.
According to officials, Michael Stewart, 69, of Monroe Township, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder for hire.
Officials say a sentence was imposed on May 2 in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In the summer of 2021, Stewart and a confidential source discussed the murder of Stewart’s ex-wife and her daughter. Stewart indicated he would pay for the murders and asked the confidential source to find a hitman.
Court documents state in October 2021, Stewart met with an undercover agent – whom he believed to be a hitman – and told him he wanted the ex-wife’s daughter killed first, followed by the ex-wife.
He told the undercover agent he would pay for the killings and provided him with names, addresses, the layout of the victims’ property, and the types of cars used by the victims.
According to authorities, Stewart also showed the undercover agent a photo of his ex-wife.
He provided the undercover agent with $500 as a partial payment.
In addition to the prison term, Stewart was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
