Merth
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WILKES-BARRE — A sentencing hearing for a woman accused of threatening to expose a self-made sex tape with an attorney was continued Thursday.
Emily Ann Merth, 26, was scheduled to be sentenced by Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on a charge of criminal attempt to commit theft by extortion. Merth pleaded guilty to the charge Dec. 2.
Merth appeared in court and briefly met with her attorney, Nathan Christopher Hartman.
When Sklarosky called Merth’s case, Hartman requested a continuance as Merth told him she had a medical emergency.
Sklarosky continued Merth’s sentencing hearing March 2.
Court records say Merth provided sexual services to David Eric Schwager, 58, inside a Carey Avenue, Wilkes-Barre, residence on Dec. 30, 2019.
Schwager noticed Merth was recording and asked her to stop before leaving, court records say.
Merth allegedly told Schwager she films porn that she sells for money.
After Schwager left, Merth learned of Schwager’s standing in the community as an attorney and threatened to release the video unless he paid $1,000, court records say.
Schwager contacted county detectives who set up surveillance of the Carey Avenue residence where Merth was arrested.
Schwager, who resigned as president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association when he was charged with patronizing a prostitute, was accepted into the county’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, a program that allows first-time offenders to enter a treatment program. The charge can be expunged upon completion of the program.