Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that an Ashtabula, Ohio man was sentenced today in federal court after having plead guilty to conspiracy to solicit the murder of a Conneaut man.

United States District Court Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. sentenced Alan S. Kessler, age 21, to 67 months imprisonment with an additional term of three years supervised release to follow his incarceration. Kessler had previously plead guilty to conspiring with Stephanie Acierno, also of Ashtabula, and making interstate phone calls seeking to arrange the murder of Acierno’s estranged husband. The pair were arrested on October 4, 2006 and subsequently charged by a federal grand jury. Stephanie Acierno’s case is set for trial before Judge Oliver on June 6, 2007 in Cleveland.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gary D. Arbeznik after an investigation by the Painesville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.