Murder-For-Hire Convict Wants Money

BOSTON (AP) â€” A criminal defense attorney who paid an undercover agent $11,000 in a failed murder-for-hire plot is asking the government to return the money. <br><br>Frederick Ford, 48, who is serving

Wednesday, September 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) â€” A criminal defense attorney who paid an undercover agent $11,000 in a failed murder-for-hire plot is asking the government to return the money.

Frederick Ford, 48, who is serving an eight-year prison term for planning to kill two former clients he thought could implicate him in a kidnap plot, is seeking the return of the money he admitted he gave to a U.S. Department of Labor agent last year.

A federal judge is to hold a hearing on the request Thursday.

The money was to be used as evidence at Ford's trial. But because Ford pleaded guilty, and no trial ever took place, there was no reason for the government to keep the money, Ford's attorney argues.

Federal prosecutors say that Ford can't have the money because he waited too long to ask for it back.

Dennis Kurdek, assistant special agent in charge of the Labor Department's Boston office, called Ford's quest for the funds ``outrageous.''

``It's fortunate that it turned out to be a government agent he hired,'' Kurdek said, ``or he'd be facing life in prison and two people would be dead.''