PRIEST TO PLEAD GUILTY TO MD. DRUG CHARGE

An Episcopal priest from Montgomery County has agreed to plead guilty to
distributing drugs after police said they found up to $10,000 worth of
methamphetamine in the church's rectory in October, according to court
documents.

Travers C. Koerner, 56, is scheduled to plead guilty Jan. 16, and
prosecutors have agreed to seek a maximum sentence of one year in jail,
according to the plea agreement filed Dec. 20 in Montgomery County Circuit
Court.

Koerner, who was rector of the 200-member St. Bartholomew's Episcopal
Church in Laytonsville at the time of his Oct. 31 arrest, is enrolled in an
out-of-state drug treatment program as a condition of his release on bond,
according to court records.

After Koerner pleads guilty, a committee for the Episcopal diocese of
Washington will begin considering deposing him, meaning he would be
permanently removed from the priesthood, said the Rev. Canon Ted Karpf, a
spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

"The fact that he was on church property, in the rectory and distributing
drugs via Federal Express would indicate there's been an abuse of power and
an abuse of the property of the church," Karpf said. "That's a grave matter."

Karpf added, "Clearly, if he's accepting guilt and responsibility, that's
an important part of redemption, not just for him but for everyone."

Koerner's attorney, Tom Heeney, said his client declined to voluntarily
renounce his priestly vows after his arrest, but the bishop has temporarily
prohibited him from ministering.

Montgomery County police said the amount of methamphetamine, a stimulant
commonly known as speed, found in the rectory was the largest seizure of
the drug in the county in five years.

Karpf said the diocese has had a priest psychologist at St. Bartholomew's
since Koerner's arrest, acting as a crisis counselor for the congregation.
Most recently, Karpf said, the congregation's young people have had a
difficult time dealing with the arrest.

"There's a lot of hurt and confusion still," Karpf said. "They've always
supported their priest, so this sense of betrayal cuts very deeply. . . . A
moment like this challenges people very, very deeply. Members of the
congregation and community are working with, 'What is forgiveness?' "

Nonbinding state sentencing guidelines in the case call for a sentence of
probation to 12 months, according to court documents. Prosecutors said the
plea agreement does not affect a Virginia charge pending against Koerner.
He was arrested in March after Arlington County police said they found
methamphetamine in his car.