Shortly before the trial was scheduled to begin, the boy's mother learned that it was to be covered by Court TV and agreed to a plea bargain with no prison time.  LaFave plead guilty under the agreement and was sentenced to three years of Community Control (house arrest) and seven years of probation, along with various other requirements.   On December 8, 2005, the judge in the second county refused to accept plea-agreement terms that included no prison time and set a trial date for April 10, 2006. The prosecutor in that case later dropped the charges. 

Physical appearance

Commentators have claimed that the attention given to this particular case arise from Lafave's physical beauty, which played into a common "naughty teacher" fantasy. Provocative modeling photographs of Lafave have circulated on the Internet since she first gained notoriety.

During the case her defense attorney made headlines by remarking to the media that "to place Debbie into a Florida state women's penitentiary, to place an attractive young woman in that kind of hellhole, is like putting a piece of raw meat in with the lions." In a book written by her ex-husband Owen Lafave, he suggests that this statement was an intentional ploy by the attorney.

The Tampa Police Department also came under scrutiny when it was revealed they took graphic nude photos of LaFave while she was in stirrups in a jail cell. John Gillespie, the lead detective who requested the nude photos of LaFave, was arrested before the trial in an unrelated prostitution sting.

After the trial

On September 29, 2006, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter claimed on The Howard Stern Show that he lost his virginity to Debra Lafave when they were classmates.

Lafave later attributed her indiscretions to bipolar disorder, which is associated with intense and irregular mood swings, and with hypersexuality and poor judgment during manic episodes.

Debra Lafave was arrested on December 4, 2007, for violating her probation by speaking with a 17-year-old female restaurant coworker.  The court ruled, however, that the violation was neither willful nor substantial, and did not revoke her probation.

LaFave's ex husband appeared on numerous talk shows regarding how his then-wife's crime had affected their relationship. He is in the documentary After School, which focuses on teacher/student relationships.