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News
By Allison Joy
CRYSTAL FALLS — Former West Iron teacher and tennis coach Joseph Serbentas began a 30-day jail sentence on July 3.
Serbentas pled guilty in May to two felonies: using a computer to commit a crime and distributing a controlled substance to a minor.
Serbentas gave marijuana to a 14-year-old female student in December of 2022.
At the June 26 sentencing, Honorable Judge Donald Powell in the Iron County Circuit Court said he “struggled” with the decision but had decided that “30 days in jail is enough”.
The charge of distributing a controlled substance to a minor is punishable by a maximum sentence of up to eight years. The charge of using a computer to commit a crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Serbentas sounded as though he were choking back tears when he addressed the court to argue against receiving jail time.
“I want to make it right, but I don’t think being in jail is going to make it right,” he said. “I want to be able to get out, and I want to be able to get out and work.”
Serbentas, who spent more than two decades with the WIC School District, was put on administrative leave on Jan. 3 when the school opened an investigation into alleged “unprofessional conduct” involving digital messages exchanged between Serbentas and a student.
Serbentas resigned on Jan. 4.
“A teacher can’t do what you did without going to jail,” Powell said at the sentencing.