PRIEST GETS 9 MONTHS IN DRUG CASE

A Montgomery County priest was ordered to serve nine months in jail
yesterday after pleading guilty to dealing methamphetamine, or "speed,"
from his Laytonsville church in what his attorney called part of a personal
$300-a-day drug habit.

The Rev. Travers C. Koerner, 56, is believed to be the first Episcopal
priest in the country convicted of dealing drugs, and the case has caused
church officials to ask more pointed questions about drug use during
priests' periodic background checks, said the Rev. Canon Ted Karpf, a
spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

"This has been a kind of wake-up call for the whole church," Karpf said
after the sentencing. "We've been through something that was unimaginable
five months ago."

Koerner, a priest for 23 years, was rector of the 200-member St.
Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in October when prosecutors said police
found as much as $14,000 worth of methamphetamine during a raid of the
church's rectory. Police said the seizure was the largest of the drug in
the county in five years.

Karpf said church officials found that Koerner did not use parish funds in
his drug business.

Montgomery police have said they began investigating Koerner after the U.S.
Postal Service noticed him mailing large amounts of cash across the country.

Koerner, who has been held at inpatient drug treatment facilities since his
arrest as a condition of his bond, told the judge that he was grateful for
his arrest because it forced him to get treatment that he otherwise would
not have sought.

He called his case a "paradox" because he has spent his life as a
"caretaker," from being a New Orleans police officer for 12 years to a
teacher and, finally, a priest.

"I've counseled people in trouble, I've married people, I've baptized their
babies," Koerner said. "This is an affront to my entire congregation."

Wearing a navy blue suit and showing little emotion, the priest told the
judge he deeply regretted the pain he had caused his congregation. A dozen
St. Bartholomew's parishioners and several fellow priests attended his
sentencing.

His attorney, Tom Heeney, said Koerner developed a drug habit when he was
52, about the time his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. At
the time of his arrest, Heeney said, Koerner was using 1.5 grams of
methamphetamine a day at a cost of about $220 a gram.

Koerner, whom the bishop has temporarily barred from ministering, pleaded
guilty in January to one count of distributing drugs in exchange for
prosecutors seeking no more than one year in jail. Non-binding state
sentencing guidelines in the case called for probation to 12 months.

Koerner will not begin serving his sentence in Montgomery until after
charges against him are resolved in Arlington County, where he is charged
with possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Yesterday, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Ann S. Harrington said she
would recommend that Koerner serve his sentence in Montgomery's halfway
house, where he could continue drug treatment and begin looking for a job.
The judge said she weighed the fact that Koerner had committed a "very
serious offense" against his "absolutely spotless record" in helping the
less fortunate.

Karpf said that the diocese will not take additional action against Koerner
until after the case against him in Virginia is resolved.