Staff report

LISBON — Austintown attorney David J. Gerchak, 55, pleaded no contest Tuesday to two counts of disorderly conduct in a case that stemmed from a law-enforcement sex sting.

Gerchak was ordered to undergo one year of intensive supervision probation.

He pleaded no contest to the fourth-degree misdemeanors in Columbiana County Municipal Court after prosecutors agreed to amend his charges of engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools to disorderly conduct, according to court records.

Judge Katelyn Dickey sentenced Gerchak to probation and 30 days in the Columbiana County jail with all 30 days of jail time suspended. He will have to pay a $300 fine, and had to forfeit the $120 the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force took during his arrest.

He is ordered to complete the 12-hour preventing prostitution course and complete 20 hours of community service within four months. She also ordered him to be evaluated and complete all recommended followup treatment for general mental health.

Gerchak was charged in August after members of the Salem Police Department and Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force arrested him at the corner of West State Street and South Howard Avenue in Salem, according to a Salem police report. He was booked into the Columbiana County jail but later released on $2,000 bond.

Engaging in prostitution is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

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