Actor Sentenced To Two Years In Grindr “Luring” Case

The New York Daily News reports:

“Andi Mack” alum Stoney Westmoreland, accused of trying to lure a minor into sex, has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading down to a lesser charge.

Westmoreland, who played the grandfather on the Disney Channel sitcom, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of using interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor and was slapped with 24 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release, rather than the 10 years in prison he was initially facing.

Prosecutors said Westmoreland was using Grindr, a gay dating app, and thought he was talking to a young boy with plans to bring him back to his hotel room.

NBC News reports:

Westmoreland’s lawyer claimed that the actor was aware the entire time that he was talking to an adult and thought they were role-playing.

When Westmoreland showed up, he asked the ride-share “driver to wait for him because he might not be staying,” his lawyer said. “Had it been a minor he was planning on leaving,” the defense attorney said.

“The risk of 10 years or more though, particularly with a Utah jury and homosexuality, led to the decision of taking the plea.”

In addition to the Disney sitcom, Westmoreland has appeared in Better Call Saul, Gilmore Girls, Scandal, and other hit series.

Disney fired him in 2018 within hours of his arrest, but right wingers are leaping on the connection today on Twitter.

‘Andi Mack’ alum Stoney Westmoreland, accused of trying to lure minor into sex, sentenced to two years in prison after pleading down to lesser chargehttps://t.co/ojSmtkIpMi

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) June 6, 2022