A federal judge has refused to throw out the conviction and sentence of a woman who authorities say murdered her husband at their Newton Falls home seventeen years ago.

U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Barker has overruled objections of 59-year-old Claudio Hoerig and denied her petition claiming legal flaws in her January 2019 aggravated murder conviction for the March 2007 shooting death of Air Force Major Karl Hoerig.

Investigators say Claudia Hoerig shot her husband three times and then covered his body with a tarp.

After emptying a bank account, authorities say Hoerig drove to the Pittsburgh airport and boarded a plane where she ultimately ended up in her native Brazil.

Following protracted negotiations with the Brazilian government, Hoerig was brought back to Trumbull County in January 2018 on the condition that she would not face the death penalty, which is unconstitutional in Brazil.

A year later Hoerig was found guilty of aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole until 2044.

Hoerig alleged that there were six legal errors in her conviction including ineffective assistance of legal counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, violation of the extradition treaty with Brazil, violation of her right to a speedy trial, violation of due process because of pretrial publicity and failure to hold a change of venue hearing.

In dismissing the petition, Judge Barker ruled that Hoerig had no basis for an appeal.