{London, Kentucky}...Twenty-eight year old Regina West of Corbin testified in federal court in London Thursday that former Kentucky State Police Trooper Fred Pennington told her last year that he would ignore a drug offense if she would have sex with him. Pennington went to West's home in September 2011 with a child-welfare worker investigating a report that one of West's sons might have been physically abused. West testified Pennington saw a crushed pain pill in West's bedroom, but instead of arresting her, he let her snort the pill and solicited her to have sex with him. West cooperated with state police to catch Pennington, who had been a state police officer for a little over 10 years. Pennington resigned after the incident. A federal grand jury indicted Pennington this year on charges of possessing and distributing drugs, for allegedly giving West a pain pill, and also on a charge of carrying a gun, his state-issued Glock .40-caliber pistol, in furtherance of a drug crime. Pennington pleaded guilty this week to the drug charges, but he is fighting the gun charge. A conviction on that count would add at least five years in prison to whatever sentence he receives on the drug charges.
