Alabama seeks mercy for trying to hire KKK hitman
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man is seeking mercy after pleading guilty to trying to hire a Ku Klux Klan hitman to kill a black neighbor.
Attorneys for Allen Wayne Morgan describe the 30-year-old Munford man as a drug-addicted veteran of more than 175 combat missions in Iraq.
The defense says Morgan was suffering severe mental problems when he tried to arrange the hit last year and shouldn't spend more than five years in prison.
Prosecutors are asking for a sentence twice that long during a sentencing hearing set for Thursday afternoon in Birmingham.
The government says Morgan tried his best to hire a supposed KKK member to kill a black neighbor he suspected of having sex with his wife.
The gunman turned out to be with the FBI, and Morgan was arrested.
