CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Former NBC 29 meteorologist Josh Fitzpatrick pled guilty to one count each of disseminating images of another and filming a non-consented nude person, both misdemeanors, in Albemarle General District Court on Wednesday.

Fitzpatrick was sentenced to one year with 11 months suspended for each charge with time served.

Fitzpatrick was arrested on May 1 and initially charged with one count of sexual extortion stemming from an incident on Feb. 28, 2025, two counts of disseminating images, one occurring Dec. 12, 2024, and the second on Oct. 15, 2024, and one count of filming a non-consenting nude person on Sept. 24, 2022.

Commonwealth’s Attorney W. Lawton Tufts was granted a null prosequi on the case at a Sept. 25 hearing, arguing the investigation was still ongoing and additional charges could be identified.

Both charges Fitzpatrick pled guilty to Wednesday stem from an incident on Sept. 24, 2022, according to court records. All the charges related to the 2024 occurrences were dropped.

Tufts also dropped the sexual extortion charge due to the wording of the crime as outlined in the Code of Virginia.

Wednesday, a second charge of disseminating images of another, related to a July 1, 2024 incident, was also dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Code 18.2-59.1 outlines sexual extortion as the act of threatening to disseminate, sell or publish or to not remove or delete a previously disseminated sold or published video or image of a partially or totally nude individual explicitly “with the intent to cause the complaining witness to engage in sexual intercourse.”

Because of this wording, defense attorney Jessica Phillips argued from the beginning of the case the charge of sexual extortion was not warranted, a position Tufts ultimately agreed with.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office wrote in a statement that they believed a felony conviction was warranted due to the seriousness of Fitzpatrick’s conduct but could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt the specific legal elements required for such a charge.

“As prosecutors, we have an obligation to pursue charges that are supported by both the evidence and the law as it exists,” the statement said.

As a result, Fitzpatrick will return to his hometown of Gallipolis, Ohio., on the condition that his phone be destroyed and he has no contact with victim moving forward.

“We want him to go back to Ohio,” Tufts said in the courtroom.

Phillips agreed, arguing that since Fitzpatrick returned to Gallipolis to live with his parents following his release on bond in June, his mental health has drastically approved, and he has no desire to return to Charlottesville.

For future cases, the statement from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said Tufts worked with Del. Katrina Callsen (D-54) on a since introduced bill to reword the existing statute, stating “any person who maliciously threatens a complaining witness in violation of existing law related to sexual extortion, but such complaining witness does not thereby engage in any sexual act, is guilty of attempted sexual extortion and shall be punished as provided in relevant law.”

The bill passed in the House unanimously on Feb. 17 and is currently being considered by the Senate.

“Our goal is to seek accountability that reflects the seriousness of the conduct,” Tufts wrote in the statement. “While the current law limited how this case could be resolved, we appreciate Delegate Callsen’s leadership in working with us to strengthen the statute so that future cases can be prosecuted in a way that better reflects the harm and danger involved.”