By JESSICA SAVAGE
The Lufkin Daily News

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A visiting district judge sentenced a Corrigan man with a history of violence to three years in prison Tuesday for threatening to kill Angelina County state district Judge Barry Bryan last year.

The three-year sentence for Humberto Cruz, 26, will begin after Cruz finishes serving a 12-year prison sentence for the savage beating of a woman he met at a Lufkin nightclub in 2006.

Cruz took the stand during the punishment phase of the non-jury trial Tuesday and said he never meant the threat to be taken seriously. He said the term "hit" was taken out of context and it was slang for "wanting some influence."

Senior district Judge John Delaney found Cruz guilty of retaliation — a third-degree felony offense publishable of up to 10 years in prison — after hearing testimony from Cruz's work colleagues who reported the death threat.

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