NEW CUMBERLAND — A Hancock County judge sentenced a former county deputy to the maximum sentence allowable by law for possessing sexually explicit material involving underage persons.

Circuit Court Judge David Sims ordered Patrick Hoder to serve two years in prison Thursday, after Hoder pled guilty to possessing 50 or less images in November during a final pretrial. He originally had been set in December to face a jury trial for allegedly possession of more than 600 images.

A defense request requesting home confinement instead of incarceration was denied.

Hoder also will be on 10 years of supervised release after prison and have to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

sujhelyi@mojonews.com