A man wanted in Portugal to serve time for his conviction in a murder-for-hire plot is appealing a New Jersey judge's decision to extradite him.

Manuel Soares asked a different federal judge in Newark on Thursday to overturn the earlier extradition ruling.

Police discovered an international warrant for Soares' arrest when he was pulled over on the New Jersey Turnpike in April.

A Portuguese criminal court acquitted Soares in 2007 of the attempted murder of his ex-wife. But Portugal's Supreme Court revoked the acquittal and sentenced Soares to more than four years in prison.

Soares says he never attempted to hide from authorities and didn't try to kill his ex-wife.

The judge says he'll issue a ruling on the case next week.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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