(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) A judge has allowed the attorneys for Harlow Cuadra to withdraw from his appeal of life without parole for the killing of Cobra video owner Bryan Kocis.

They argued that they do not believe Cuadra has the money to pay them and asked the court to appoint new attorneys to handle the appeal. Olszewski agreed to sever the lawyers from the appeal.

Last month, the two filed an appeal of the conviction and sentence. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania has not indicated when the appeal might be heard.

Cuadra was convicted on March 16 of killing Kocis. He was sentenced to life in prison after a jury could not agree on the death penalty

Cuadra’s former lover and business partner, 35-year-old Joseph Kerekes, already is serving life after pleading guilty last December to second degree murder after making a deal with prosecutors.

Kocis’ body was discovered in his home in 2006 by firefighters responding to a blaze in the rural home. More than 80 percent of the body was covered by third-degree burns and police said the fire had been set deliberately to destroy evidence.

The 27-year-old Cuadra had faced the death sentence, but the jury of eight men and four women could not reach a unanimous decision on whether the prosecution had met the burden of proof that the death penalty was appropriate.