A Summit Township woman learned Wednesday that ignorance really is no defense for the law.

Desiree Feitl, 25, told a Butler County jury she didn’t know it was against the law for her to possess a stun gun.

Feitl’s criminal record — which includes two felony drug convictions — legally prevents her from owning a gun or stun gun.

Yet, Feitl claimed she bought her 500-volt Panther brand stun gun at a legitimate store without filling out an application, so she thought she could have it.

“I got jumped so I decided I needed something to protect myself,” said Feitl, who testified on her own behalf during a one-day trial Wednesday.

Feitl said she bought the stun gun in June for $110.

Three weeks later, on July 11, city police officer Jeremy Walters approached Feitl’s car because it was parked inappropriately and sticking out into the traffic lane in the 100 block of Kaufman Drive at about 3:30 a.m.

Walters testified that he stopped at the vehicle out of concern it had broken down, or the two people inside needed assistance.

Feitl, the driver, had the stun gun on her seat with her.

Feitl’s defense attorney, Charles Nedz, asked the jury to acquit Feitl because she “made an honest mistake. She had no idea she wasn’t allowed to possess a stun gun.... Ms. Feitl received no fair warning.”

The jury convicted Feitl of one count of illegal possession of an electronic incapacitation device, which is a misdemeanor.

Feitl will be sentenced Feb. 16 by Butler County Judge Timothy McCune, who presided over the trial.

Feitl, who could face a maximum of five years in prison, already is in Butler County Prison, awaiting the outcome of a parole violation allegation. And, also pending is a drunken driving allegation that, if proven, would be Feitl’s fourth, according to court records.

Although the jury was told that Feitl had been convicted of a crime that prohibited her from owning a stun gun, the jury was never told the name or nature of the charges.

The jury also was not told that during the same traffic stop Feitl’s passenger, 21-year-old Andre S. Moreino of Butler, also was arrested.

Moreino who is accused of placing a bag of suspected crack cocaine under his passenger seat still faces one charge of possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents.