Indicted in April for attempting to sell drugs and sexual favors on the website craiglist.org, Joshua Carpenter, 26, of Monroe County, was sentenced Thursday to 90 days in the Washington County Jail and three years of community control sanctions.
"I know what I did was wrong and I know I deserve to be punished. I do have a family I take care of and they rely on me," said Carpenter before sentencing was handed down.
Carpenter's attorney, Eric Fowler, asked for community control sanctions, saying that Carpenter was a non-violent offender and that the charge was his first felony offense. He also asked that the judge take precautions when assigning jail time because Carpenter's gender identity issues might make him a target of other inmates.
Carpenter appeared in court Thursday wearing a wig and a women's apparel.
"My client does have gender identity disorder. We believe he should be isolated from the general population of the jail," said Fowler.
Jail officials don't comment on the housing situation of inmates, said Lt. Marvin Smith.
Carpenter pleaded guilty on Sept. 18 to the fifth-degree felony count of trafficking.
In March, Carpenter and his girlfriend, Jessica D. Alcorn, also known as Jessica Feucht, reportedly approached a confidential informant of the Major Crimes Task Force and offered to perform sexual acts on the informant in exchange for money. Carpenter, who was at the time residing at 242 Pennsylvania Ave., Marietta, also allegedly offered to sell Vicodin pills to the informant.
Both Carpenter and Alcorn were charged with a third-degree misdemeanor charge of soliciting and a fifth-degree felony charge of trafficking in drugs.
The felony trafficking charge against Alcorn and the misdemeanor soliciting charge against Carpenter were both dismissed.
Alcorn pleaded guilty in April to the soliciting charge in Marietta Municipal Court and was sentenced to seven days in jail and a $150 fine.
Washington County Common Pleas Court Judge Ed Lane noted that Carpenter is eligible for SEPTA treatment, and ordered him to be transfered there after serving 60 days of his sentence in the county jail.
"Mr. Carpenter does have an addiction problem. It is the court's obligation to address that and it is Mr. Carpenter's obligation to address that," said Lane.
Lane also ordered Carpenter into addiction counseling when he gets out of jail.
"If they want you there five nights a week standing on your head, then you better be there five nights a week standing on your head," said Lane.
