PITTSBURGH — A decorated veteran of the war in Iraq will spend 6 to 12 years in prison for trying to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife.

Sheldon Stewart, 31, tearfully apologized to his wife Wednesday at his sentencing hearing in Pittsburgh.

Stewart pleaded guilty in August to trying to hire a hitman to kill his wife while the couple were engaged in a bitter child custody dispute.

Authorities said Stewart paid a man $100 in October 2008 as a down payment for Sarah Stewart's murder, but the man went to police instead.

Sheldon Stewart was awarded a Purple Heart after being injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2003. Defense attorney Candace Stockey said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2005, Stewart pleaded guilty in federal court to trying to help an accomplice steal mail.

By The Associated Press