A Gettysburg man was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail for one count of statutory sexual assault after he reluctantly pleaded guilty in county court.

After his jail sentence, Brian D. Hoover, 23, 1760 Shrivers Corner Road, Lot 154, will spend four months on house arrest and three years on probation.

Senior Judge Oscar F. Spicer issued the sentence in Adams County Court on Monday. The sentence reflected a plea agreement Hoover reached with the Adams County District Attorney's office.

Hoover was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

According to court documents, in January, he gave her several shots of Wild Turkey Whiskey. She got sick, and her father took her to Gettysburg Hospital.

Pennsylvania State Police in Gettysburg interviewed the girl, and she admitted to having sexual intercourse numerous times with Hoover, according to court records.

Hoover told police they had sex on one occasion, and he believed they were in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, court documents state. He told police the girl's friends told him she was only 15, but he did not want to believe it, according to court documents.

Prior to sentencing, Hoover considered changing his guilty plea. With his head hung low, he told the judge something in a mumble. Spicer said he thought he heard Hoover say he knew the girl was underage, but didn't want to believe it.

But Hoover's attorney, Steve Rice, said his client meant he did not know how old the

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girl was.

Rice said he had recommended a guilty plea because Hoover had a prior record for a 2004 burglary, and a jury trial could result in a more strict sentence.

About maintaining his November guilty plea, Hoover said, looking down, "Might as well go through with it."

Rice said he wasn't comfortable with the vacillating nature of Hoover's plea. He and the judge discussed Hoover's version of the incident, and Hoover changed his mind again.

"Let's just withdraw (the plea) and I'll take my chances," Hoover said, barely audible.

A defendant can change his plea up to sentencing, Spicer said. Changing it after sentencing is much more difficult and would require showing manifest injustice.

Court recessed for 10 minutes, but Hoover kept his guilty plea and was sentenced. He is to report to Adams County Prison Feb. 1.

Contact Steve Marroni at smarroni@eveningsun.com.