Newspaper Co-Owner Fined $16,300 in Drug Conviction : Crime: William Odett of Palmdale is also sentenced to 90 days in County Jail and to one month in a treatment program.

The co-owner of the Antelope Valley Press newspaper was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail, a month in a drug treatment program and fined $16,300 for his conviction on charges of cocaine possession and brandishing a firearm.

William W. Odett, 45, of Palmdale was arrested May 16 after using a shotgun to force a telephone book delivery woman away from his house. He was later found with 1.67 grams of cocaine.

“I think you’ve got one problem, and it’s a drug problem,” Lancaster Superior Court Judge Charles Horan told Odett during the sentencing. The newspaper executive pleaded no contest to the felony drug charge and the misdemeanor brandishing charge as part of a plea bargain last month. Two other charges were dismissed.

Odett, who has been in custody since Nov. 14, probably will not have to spend much more time in County Jail. He had credit for 53 days as of Monday, and County Jail officials typically are keeping lesser offenders for about half their actual sentences to ease overcrowding, authorities said.

Under Horan’s order, Odett will spend at least 30 days in a private drug treatment program at Community Psychiatric Centers’ Westwood hospital. A hospital spokesman said such stays cost about $950 a day, or nearly $30,000 a month, and would be paid for by Odett or his insurance.

After his release, Odett will be on probation for five years and subject to random drug testing. The judge warned Odett that missing or failing any future drug tests could violate his probation and lead to a new sentence of up to three years in state prison.

According to court records, Odett told a county probation officer that he was innocent, that the cocaine was not his and that he had not pointed the gun at the delivery woman. However, the delivery woman’s story was corroborated by her mother and daughter, who were both present that day.

Odett has been removed as treasurer of Antelope Valley Newspapers Inc., the corporate owner of the five-day-a-week newspaper, Editor Larry Grooms said. Odett remains co-owner of the publication.