A Dalton, Ga., man who was caught in a prostitution sting was sentenced Thursday to seven days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Carl Marshall denied he was seeking sex when he stopped and talked to a female city police officer who was posing as a prostitute on Kelly Street on May 11.
He said he had been coming up once a month to eat at the Southern Star restaurant and had gotten lost that day.
General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon, who watched a tape of the incident, ruled the defendant guilty.
He said the tape showed Marshall inviting the woman into his SUV and saying he had money. He said the defendant was adamant in attempting to get the undercover officer to get into his vehicle, agreed to sex and agreed to pay money for the sexual favors.
Defense attorney Russell King maintained that it was the female officer who initiated the incident, going up to his car and talking about sex acts. He said Marshall never agreed to have sex with her.
He said Marshall has no criminal record and is a Habitat for Humanity board member.
Attorney King said, "He is guilty of being stupid. This has caused him all kinds of problems, and his wife is not happy about it."
The tape shows the undercover officer asking Marshall if he is a police officer, and she asks him the same question.
The defendant was found guilty of soliciting sex within one and half miles of Eastside Elementary School. Under the law, solicitation within such specified distance of a church or school carries a minimum sentence of seven days in the workhouse and a minimum fine of $1,000.