Criminal charges against the Walnut Grove police chief arrested in a 2017 prostitution sting will not be going to trial.

Redwood County court records said a plea hearing was held Wednesday in Mankato for Michael Robert Zeug, and a petition to enter a guilty plea was filed Thursday.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Zeug would plead guilty to agreeing to hire a minor for prostitution, court records said. Records said the court ordered a pre-sentence investigation for Zeug, and a sentencing hearing was set for Sept. 21 in Mankato.

Zeug, 46, was one of three Minnesota men arrested last year after a covert operation conducted by the BLR Drug Task Force and the Washington County Human Trafficking Task Force. In the sting operation, law enforcement officers posted online advertisements on websites used in prostitution and sex trafficking. Court documents said Zeug allegedly corresponded with an undercover officer posing as a teenage girl.

After the arrests, Zeug was suspended from his duties as chief of the Walnut Grove Police Department.

While Zeug was charged in Redwood County District Court, his court case was reassigned to a judge in Blue Earth County last year.

The plea petition filed Thursday included the terms of a plea agreement for Zeug. Under the terms of the agreement, Zeug would plead guilty to agreeing to hire a minor for prostitution, and would be sentenced for a gross misdemeanor instead of a felony. Other terms included a sentence of one year in jail with 275 days stayed, and two years supervised probation. As part of the probation, Zeug would undergo a mental health evaluation, the petition said.