The former St. Joseph's University administrator who supplied party drugs - crystal methamphetamine and GHB, the date-rape drug - the night a North Dakota man was murdered in 2006 was sentenced yesterday 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. He will be eligible for release on good behavior after six months.
Covington was convicted in September in a nonjury trial.
Thomas F. Lawrie, assistant district attorney, said Covington, a well-educated man with a family and a history of good jobs, "chose a lifestyle of perversion and crime" and should receive a state prison sentence. At St. Joseph's, Covington was director of planned giving.
"I do have a lot of regret and shame," said Covington, who acknowledged he has an addiction to drugs and sex.
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.
During the murder trial, Smithson's attorney, G. Guy Smith, tried to cast doubt on his client'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.
Defense attorney Steven C. Leach said his client, who has been married for 36 years and has four children, was leading a "double life" with his drug and sex addiction. He said Covington had been sober since February 2008 and had been receiving counseling for his addictions.
"This was just a train wreck waiting to happen," Leach said. "Getting arrested probably saved his life."
Covington was taken into custody immediately.
Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149 or mschaefer@phillynews.com.
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