Man jailed for trying to frame his wife on Craigslist

CHAMBERSBURG - A Washington Township man who posed as his estranged wife on Craigslist in an attempt to frame her for his own murder could serve just a day in jail, or almost two years.

The sentence of up to 23 months will run concurrent to the sentence Christian Koelsch, 30, previously received on a simple assault conviction.

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That conviction stems from a domestic violence incident he wrote about in the Craigslist advertisement in which he posed as his wife, requesting someone to help "her" "take care of" her ex-husband, even if it meant killing him.

Police determined Koelsch was behind the advertisement after Craigslist provided information about the ad and the account that created it. That information allowed police to determine Koelsch created the ad.

Wednesday, Koelsch pleaded guilty to false reports-falsely incriminate another person in connection to the Craigslist ad, and was sentenced to a minimum of one day and a maximum of 23 months in Franklin County Jail.

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In the advertisement, Koelsch, posing as his wife, wrote that "most recently he took an argument father (sic) than ever when he beat me and abused me," according to court documents.

On the simple assault charge, Koelsch had originally been sentenced to probation. But gaining the new charge violated his probation, and he was resentenced on July 26, to spend between four and 19 months in Franklin County Jail and six months on probation.

Koelsch is prohibited from having contact with his estranged wife, and has been ordered to complete domestic violence treatment.

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Also in Franklin County Court Wednesday:

Edwin Jovan Lopez-Gonzalez, 25, was sentenced to between 30 days and 23 months in Franklin County Jail after police said he drove his car into another man's vehicle in a parking lot.

Lopez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

According to court documents, Lopez-Gonzalez approached the man around midnight on July 18, in the area of Nitterhouse Drive. After Lopez-Gonzalez ran his car into the other man's the victim shot at Lopez-Gonzalez to defend himself.

After jail, Lopez-Gonzalez will be on probation for a year, according to court documents.

Lopez-Gonzalez is prohibited from having contact with the man, and will pay his victim $8,053.76. He also will pay $300 in fines.

A charge of aggravated assault was dropped in the plea agreement.

Becky Metrick, 717-262-4762

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