Cousins Pratikkumar Patel, Kalpesh Patel conspired to murder Krupaben Patel.
By Sreekanth A Nair
Two Indian American cousins were sentenced to 15 years in jail by a Tennessee circuit court for conspiring to commit murder.
In 2013, cousins Pratikkumar Patel and Kalpesh Patel, residents of Tennessee, conspired to solicit and arrange the murder of Krupaben Patel, the wife of Pratikkumar Patel, in Rutherford County. They were found guilty in August this year.
Circuit court Judge David Bragg sentenced the duo to a minimum 15 years in jail on the conspiracy charge. They will be eligible to get parole after serving 30 percent of the period.
The cousins were arrested in September 2013 after one Chris Robinson from Rutherford County informed the authorities about the conspiracy. They had approached Robinson to arrange someone to murder Krupaben Patel by offering to pay $50,000 to the murderer.
Later, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tapped a call from Prattikumar Patel to Robinson and arrested the cousins.
The prosecution stated that Pratikkumar Patel wanted to get out of an arranged marriage with his wife but had religious objections to a divorce. He had taken a $6 million life insurance policy for his wife. He allegedly had an affair with a woman who worked in his stores, the prosecution pointed out.
“I would have liked them to have gotten more than the minimum, but the judge was constrained by the sentencing guidelines”, Murfreesboropost quoted Assistant District Attorney Sarah Davis as saying.
According to a report in Daily News Journal, Ed Yarbrough, who represented Prattikumar Patel, said “We’re very disappointed in the verdict and plan to appeal the case.”
Earlier, Krupaben Patel had told the jury that she didn’t believe her husband and his cousin had tried to murder her prior their arrest. Also, she had said that she knew her husband had an affair with another woman and she had forgiven him for his misdeeds.