GREENFIELD — A former inmate at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction was sentenced on Friday to an additional 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty to multiple counts of solicitation to commit a felony.
Hector Nieves, 44, tried to recruit another inmate to kill a female victim who was scheduled to testify against him in an upcoming Hampden County Superior Court trial, according to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office. Nieves was held on bail on that matter and was being housed at the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction pending trial.
Nieves appeared in Franklin County Superior Court on Friday to change his plea on single counts of solicitation to commit a crime, to wit, murder; solicitation to commit a crime, to wit, intimidation of a witness; solicitation to commit a crime, to wit, distributing a Class A substance (fentanyl); and solicitation to commit a crime, to wit, distributing a Class B substance (crack cocaine).
According to the DA’s office, Nieves’ efforts to have the woman killed came to law enforcement’s attention in July 2024, triggering a joint investigation by the Hampshire/Franklin and Hampden State Police detective units, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office Anti-Crime Task Force. The investigation culminated in a grand jury indicting Nieves in October 2024.
The sentence was jointly recommended by Assistant District Attorney Erin Aiello and defense attorney Daniel Solomon.
“This case required close collaboration among multiple agencies across different jurisdictions to protect the integrity of our court process,” Aiello said in a statement. “We depend on victims being able to testify and feeling safe when they choose to come forward.”
Nieves is already serving a seven- to nine-year state prison sentence after pleading guilty in the Hampden County case in which the female victim was scheduled to testify against him. His sentence on the Franklin County case will run concurrently with the Hampden County sentence.