A doctoral student at the University of Georgia pled guilty Monday to engaging in an explicit online conversation with an undercover Peachtree City police officer whom he thought was under 16.

Govinda Bahadur Basnet, 42, of 2414 Airport Drive, Athens pled guilty not only to the computer pornography charge but also to obscene internet contact. The latter charge was for transmitting a photo via e-mail to the officer depicting a naked male, according to court records.

Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English Jr. delayed sentencing until November as Basnet has asked to complete his doctoral degree. Basnet indicated in court that he was not a resident of the United States; police have said he is a native of Nepal and was living on campus in housing with his wife and 2-year-old child at the time of the crime in December 2006.

According to the University of Georgia’s web site, Basnet was doing doctoral work in ecological and environmental anthropology. Previously he received a Masters degree in ecological agriculture from the Wageningen Agricultural University in Holland. He also has worked for the United Nations in two different national parks in Nepal and he also taught plant pathology for two years, he said on the web site.

UGA officials took Basnet’s biography from the graduate student web site after his arrest, but a copy of it was located elsewhere on the Internet.

English also accepted several other guilty pleas in court Monday including that of a Peachtree City woman who admitted that she was under the influence of cocaine and marijuana when she caused a wreck in Fayetteville that killed a Clayton County man in April 2006. Mikaela Figel of 115 Wickerhill pled guilty to homicide by vehicle in the first degree, DUI, failure to maintain lane and possession of marijuana (less than one ounce).

English delayed sentencing on Figel so the wife of Mack Edwards would be able to address the court prior to the sentence being handed down.

Another defendant pled guilty Monday to breaking into several cars parked at the Gold’s Gym and Peachtree City Tennis Center and then using their credit and debit cards at local stores. Eugene Coleman of 37 Aviator Circle, Snellville pled guilty to seven counts of entering an automobile and four counts of financial transaction card fraud. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Also entering guilty pleas Monday were:

John Dwight Smith of 513 Hyacinth Lane, Peachtree City for possession of cocaine (felony), driving with a suspended license and driving without insurance. Smith, a former Atlanta Braves outfielder, was sentenced to five years on probation and a $500 fine.

Karseen Redwine of 297 Jerninga Drive, Atlanta for possession of cocaine (felony), possession of marijuana less than one ounce, obstruction of a police officer, driving with a suspended license and a stop sign violation. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Christopher Brandon Little of 1572 Hollyhook Terrace, Decatur for two counts of financial transaction card fraud. He was sentenced to five years probation and must pay a $500 fine.

Mandell Williams of 3540 North Camp Creek Parkway, Atlanta for burglary. Sentencing was delayed until Monday.

Nicholas McDaniel of 40 Meadowland Trail, LaGrange for four counts of financial identity fraud. He was sentenced to five years probation and must pay $5,933 in restitution.

Thomas Derek Jefferson of 345 Woodbyne Drive, Fayetteville, for driving while declared a habitual violator and disobeying a traffic signal.

Calvin Hill of 15 Conner Street, Hazlehurst, Ga. for false swearing and making false statements and writings. He was sentenced to five years probation under the first offender act and fined $500 and must pay $2,371 restitution.

William Melton of 8224 East Rugby Avenue, Birmingham, Ala. for theft by taking. He was sentenced to a year on probation, with the sentence suspended upon payment of fine.

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