An actor best known for his work on Disney’s “Andi Mack” was sentenced to two years in prison following an arrest on a child sex charge in 2018, officials said Monday.
Stoney Westmoreland, 52, pleaded guilty to use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor and must surrender to prison no later than July 18, according to court records.
Westmoreland had been indicted on one count of alleged coercion and enticement to engage in sexual activity with a minor.
He had faced a minimum 10 years in prison on that more serious offense before pleading guilty to a lesser charge, defense lawyer Wendy Lewis said.
Westmoreland communicated with an undercover law enforcement agent pretending to be teen on the dating app Grindr in 2018, Lewis and prosecutors said.
The actor later said the online connection, which turned into a real-life meeting, was role-playing that went too far. When Westmoreland showed up to meet who he believed to be a 13-year-old, he asked the ride-share “driver to wait for him because he might not be staying,” Lewis said.
“Had it been a minor he was planning on leaving,” the defense attorney said. “The risk of 10 years or more though, particularly with a Utah jury and homosexuality, led to the decision of taking the plea.”
After serving his sentence, Westmoreland will be under conditions of supervised release for another 10 years and have to register as a sex offender for 25 years, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Choate said.
The actor will be limited to “possessing only one personal computer and/or internet-capable device” and all “devices are subject to random inspection,” once he’s out of prison, according to court records.
Westmoreland was fired from the cast of “Andi Mack,” which films in Utah, shortly after his arrest. He had played the role of Henry “Ham” Mack, grandfather to the show’s protagonist.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.