DECATUR, Ind. (WANE) – A former Bluffton Police officer caught up in a prostitution sting in Decatur last year pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making an unlawful proposition earlier this month.

James A. Mettler, who was 72 when Adams County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him in November, was also sentenced to six months in jail. He was given 128 days credit for time served while his case wound through the legal system.

According to the sheriff’s department, the investigation used a confidential informant to arrange a meeting Mettler at a hotel. Mettler allegedly had a conversation with the informant about exchanging money for sex.

At the time, Mettler had been out on bond from Grant County for a similar offense.

In that case, he has been charged with a Level 4 felony count of vicarious sexual conduct where the defendant tries to get a child under 16 to engage in deviate conduct as well as two misdemeanor counts of making unlawful propositions.

He faces a trial in June, according to court records.

Mettler served on the Bluffton Police force from 1984 to 2013. He was never charged with a crime during his tenure with the department.