LEE COUNTY, N.C. — Former Lee County Prosecutor Bill Huggins, who was accused of asking his girlfriend to kill his wife, is about to be a free man. When he leaves prison on Sunday, he hopes for a fresh start.

"I've been ready to leave here since the day I got here," Huggins said.

Huggins said he was never serious about having his girlfriend, Melissa Davis, kill his wife.

Despite the alleged plot, Huggins' wife supported him then. He said she supports him now.

"That's a blessing from God that my family has stayed with me through all of this," he said.

Huggins said his relationship with Davis is over.

"I hope that I never bump into her," he said. "I hope that I never see her again.

"I don't harbor any ill feelings toward her. But I have no desire to ever see her again."

A jury never had to decide on the murder plot. Huggins pleaded guilty to lesser charges, admitting he gave his girlfriend a gun that was once evidence and that he tried to use his power to get other women to have sex with him.

Huggins, who surrendered his law license, spent 10 months at the Hoke Correctional Institute. He said he has emerged with a new perspective on life.

"I did a lot of things I shouldn't have done, and it's true I did betray the public's trust," he said.

Huggins plans to return to his home in Sanford. If he finds work elsewhere, he said he will move to support his family.