Brian BizzellPHOENIX (CBS5) -
A former Goodyear teacher caught exchanging sexually explicit text messages with a student was sentenced to one year in jail on Friday.
Brian Bizzell, 35, was also sentenced to three counts of lifetime probation with sex offender terms.
Bizzell taught band, choir and drama at Estrella Foothills High School in Goodyear when a student found a lost cell phone that belonged to another student. The phone included the sexually explicit messages in October 2011.
Bizzell was originally charged with six felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
In a plea deal, Bizzell pleaded guilty to lesser charges in July.
The 17-year-old girl who owned the phone also had confessed to numerous sexual encounters with Bizzell in 2011.
Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
