By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer

A Fort Wayne teenager accused of selling marijuana and prescription medication in Whitley County will have to serve four years in the local jail.
Eighteen-year-old Bradley E. Ledgerwood was sentenced Wednesday morning in Circuit Court to eight years in the Whitley County Jail with four to serve for selling hydrocodone and marijuana to a confidential informant.
For the class B felony charge of selling hydrocodone, Ledgerwood received an eight-year sentence with four to serve and the balance suspended on probation.
For the class A misdemeanor and class D felony charges of selling marijuana, Ledgerwood received a one-year sentence each to run concurrent with the initial sentencing.
Before sentencing, Ledgerwood apologized to his family and the court system.
“I’m sorry to my family and my future wife … I completely took my freedom for granted and was doing what I wanted to do rather than what I should have done,” he said.
He said he is currently in a GED program to further his education, and is trying to take steps to get his life back on track.
His attorney, Brad Volez, asked for the possibility of work release when Ledgerwood is eligible.
“Brad’s a young man. He’s been extremely scared since his arrest and incarceration,” Volez said.
Whitley County Prosecutor Matt Rentschler said the case revolved around Ledgerwood having sold marijuana and hydrocodone periodically for two months to a confidential informant working for the Whitley County Drug Task Force.
He said he had hope for Ledgerwood’s future and appreciated his apology.
“He is at a very young age and still able to make something of himself,” Rentschler said before sentencing, but added that what Ledgerwood had done was “reprehensible.”
Before sentencing, Circuit Court Judge James Heuer said Ledgerwood appeared to be too smart to have made these kinds of mistakes.
“You are obviously an intelligent young man who shouldn’t be here,” Heuer said, adding he did not object to Ledgerwood serving his time locally and then being eligible for work release.
In other cases of the day, a Columbia City man charged with burglary and theft will have to serve two years starting the first week of 2008.
Twenty-three-year-old Adam A. Geiselman will have until Jan. 4 to find employment before being required to report to Whitley County Jail.
The purpose of allowing him time to find employment is so he can potentially be on the work release program.
His attorney, Greg Hockemeyer, had asked for either home detention or work release in the case, saying Geiselman is also facing a charge of operating while intoxicated in Huntington County.