RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Reno man who hired a hit man to kill his wife so he could live as a homosexual has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Fifty-year-old James Gau, a father of six, will be eligible for parole in two years under the sentence imposed Thursday by Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer.

Sheryl Gau asked the judge to give her estranged husband probation, saying she wanted his financial support and hoped the family could reunite.

James Gau pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder for asking a police informant in July to go to his wife's American Fork, Utah, home, pretend to be a robber, and strangle her.

Gau said left his family and moved to Reno because he wanted to live as a homosexual.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)