HATTIESBURG (AP) — A Dixie man who pleaded guilty to conspiring with an undercover sheriff’s deputy to have a Petal couple considering legal action against him killed, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Virgil Breeden Jr., 56, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of attempted capital murder and was sentenced to a combined 20-year sentence with 15 years to serve, Forrest County District Attorney Jon Mark Weathers said.

Forrest County Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich warned Breeden to have no contact with the targets of his murder for hire scheme.

Breeden was charged in January after the undercover deputy said he was offered $1,000 to kill Frank and Jerrine Wilson.

Prosecutors said the couple told authorities that they had paid Breeden $73,830 to remodel the building. They estimated only about $20,000 in work was done and they were pressuring Breeden to finish the job when the murder plot was revealed.