The former St. Joseph's University administrator who supplied crystal methamphetamine and the date-rape drug GHB on the night a North Dakota man was murdered in 2006 was sentenced today on drug charges in a Delaware County court.

Fen Bruce Covington, 59, of State College, received a state term of eight months to five years along with 11 years of supervision for possession with intent to deliver. Covington, who was convicted in September, will be eligible for release on good behavior after six months.

The body of Jason Shephard, a 23-year-old intern with the South Dakota scoreboard manufacturer Daktronics, was found in the basement of William Smithson's Thornbury Township home on Sept. 21, 2006. Prosecutors said Smithson, 43, had drugged Shephard, and strangled the young man from Cavalier, N.D., after Shephard fought off Smithson's sexual advances.

Covington first told police that he was not at Smithson's house on Sept. 18, but later changed his story. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the murder trial.

Covington pleaded guilty to similar drug charges in Montgomery County in June and was sentenced to three years' probation.

Smithson was found guilty of first-degree murder but was spared the death penalty.

Smithson's attorney, G. Guy Smith, tried to cast doubt on Smithson's guilt by bringing up Covington's presence in the home on the night Shephard was killed. A defense witness testified that Covington often talked of sexual fantasies that were similar to the crime: drugging an unsuspecting individual and then raping him.