A Lancaster County district judge sent Todd Ticnor to prison Monday for a "menage a trois" involving a 15-year-old girl.

Ticnor, 37, tearfully told the judge he was sorry.

"I've hurt a lot of people with this error in judgment," he said.

Jennifer Tomka, his attorney, said Ticnor believed at the time the girl was 18 and that what he was doing was legal. She argued for probation, saying Ticnor was "somewhat of a pawn in Crystal Hoover's game."

In July, County Judge Gale Pokorny sentenced Hoover to a year in jail -- the most he could for contributing to the delinquency of a minor -- for her part in the crime.

Pokorny said Hoover apparently devised a plan to get back at Ticnor, an old boyfriend who had lost interest in her.

Hoover planned to entice him by setting up sex with a troubled 15-year-old girl to whom she'd given prescription drugs, Pokorny said.

Investigators said she introduced the girl to Ticnor and encouraged her to send revealing pictures of herself to him.

Eventually, the three went to Bluestem Lake where, the girl told them, she felt manipulated and pressured to have sex.

At Ticnor's sentencing Monday, Tomka argued there was little or no risk he would be involved in something like this again.

The over-the-road truck driver does not drink or do drugs, Tomka said, and he's married now and loves his wife and kids.

Then Ticnor stood and said he was sorry to all of the families involved. He has a lot of faults, he said, fighting back tears, but he hopes his kids can learn from his mistakes.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Bruce Prenda suggested he had concerns Ticnor may be minimizing what he did and said the victim had been affected by it, despite her decision not to give the court a statement.

"Cases like this cause significant consequences and effects for everyone," Prenda said.

In the end, District Judge John Colborn said he couldn't ignore the serious nature of the charges or Ticnor's prior record, which includes a previous sexual assault conviction.

Then he sentenced him to eight to 15 years in prison.

Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.