NATION : Socialite Gets Life for Murder

MIAMI — Miami socialite Joyce Cohen was sentenced today to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years for hiring three hit men to kill her wealthy husband.

“You committed this crime for financial gain. And you did it in a cold, criminal and extremely cruel manner,” Circuit Judge Fredericka Smith told Cohen.

Smith said, however, that there was no reason for her to override the jury’s recommendation that Cohen be spared the electric chair.

Cohen, 36, was convicted Thursday of hiring three men to kill her 52-year-old husband, Stanley, on March 7, 1986, so she would not be left penniless if their loveless marriage ended in divorce.

During the three-week trial, witnesses said the couple lived in the fast lane, using cocaine, socializing with celebrities, engaging in extramarital affairs and commuting by private jet to their ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colo.