Drew Peterson gets 40 years in murder-for-hire case

CHESTER, Ill. (WLS) -- Drew Peterson was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison plus three years of supervision in a murder-for-hire case.

In May, a jury in Randolph County found Peterson guilty of trying to hire a hit man to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. The additional sentence makes it nearly certain Peterson will die in jail.

"The outrage of me doing my job as a prosecutor, and this defendant having the audacity to try and have me killed for doing my job is just a moral outrage," Glasgow said.

Glasgow, a former Will County prosecutor, helped convict Peterson of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Now, the man he worked tirelessly to put away for murder will now spend an additional four decades locked up for plotting to have him killed.

"He's a patronizing conman," Glasgow said.

While Peterson was serving a 38-year sentence, a jail mate tipped off Glasgow's office after he said Peterson asked him about hiring a hit man. In court Friday, Peterson told a judge he was just kidding.

"This wasn't a joke. And we know it wasn't a joke and the jury agreed it wasn't a joke," said Jeremy Walker, Randolph County state's attorney.

The judge didn't treat it as one, either. Peterson's pleas and explanations fell on deaf ears inside the Randolph County courtroom where the family of the woman he murdered showed up to see Peterson sent away again.

"It makes me feel real good that he's never going to get out of jail again," said Sue Doman, Savio's sister.

Peterson is now in solitary confinement and closely monitored at Menard Correctional Facility, just a few miles away from the courthouse where he appeared Friday.

This 40-year sentence will be tacked on to the murder sentence he's currently serving. Peterson is eligible for parole in 2047, when he would be 93 years old.