Evander Ellis|Reality show winner gets 10 years for enticing underage girl to cross state lines for sex

2025-04-29 19:17:12source:Indexbitcategory:Finance

CAMDEN,Evander Ellis N.J. (AP) — A former winner of the “American Ninja Warrior” TV reality show has been sentenced to just over 10 years in federal prison for enticing an underage girl to travel across state lines so they could have sex.

Andrew Drechsel, 35, of Saint Cloud, Florida, will also have to serve 15 years of supervised release once he completes his prison term and must pay the victim $100,000 in restitution under the 121-month sentence imposed Wednesday in Camden. Drechsel pleaded guilty to both the enticement charge and a charge of possessing child sex abuse material in June 2023.

Drechsel, who won season 11 of the NBC television show in 2019, was living in Hamden, Connecticut, at that time, while the victim lived in New Jersey. The encounters between him and the girl took place between 2014 and 2019, prosecutors said, with the girl sometimes going to Connecticut and Drechsel going to New Jersey at other times.

Drechsel told authorities he met the victim in 2014 after an “American Ninja Warrior” contestant event, where they exchanged numbers and began texting. She was 14 at the time; he was in his mid-20s.

More:Finance

Recommend

Kentucky governor unveils paid leave plan for state workers with a new child or serious illness

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky plans to provide state employees with paid time off so they can bond

Safety board says pedals pilots use to steer Boeing Max jets on runways can get stuck

WASHINGTON (AP) — Safety investigators are making “urgent” recommendations to Boeing and the Federal

Carly Pearce Weighs In on Beyoncé’s Country Music Association Awards Snub

Carly Pearce knows nothing is going to hold Beyoncé down, down, down, down.So while Queen Bey wasn’t