Man, 34, gets 9 years after threat with knife

A Golden Gate man whom authorities described as a career criminal, street gang member and illegal resident in the United State, was sentenced to nine years in state prison Friday, the Collier County Sheriff's Office said.

Francisco Pepe Garcia, 34, already had pleaded no contest to armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a concealed weapon by a convicted felon, under a plea deal with prosecutors. A judge found him guilty of all the charges at his sentencing Friday.

Garcia was arrested Dec. 16, 2003, after he entered the apartment of a female acquaintance in the 4000 block of 18th Place Southwest in Golden Gate, and pulled out a knife, sheriff's reports say. He told the woman, who was home with her young children, that he was going to kill himself or someone else, sheriff's reports say.

Garcia, who told the woman he was high on Xanax, then pulled out a 3-foot-long metal hook from his pants and threatened the woman with it. He then passed out in a living room chair, according to sheriff's reports.

Garcia also pleaded no contest in another case to felony domestic violence battery and to violation of an injunction for protection against domestic violence.

Two days before his arrest, Garcia's ex-girlfriend reported that he had punched her in the face during an argument, sheriff's reports say. At the time Garcia was under a court-ordered injunction to have no contact with the victim.

Garcia has a prior battery conviction in 2001. He also has prior felony convictions in Collier County, including shooting into an unoccupied vehicle in 1999 and resisting arrest with violence in 2001.

Garcia has previously been deported to his native Mexico, the Sheriff's Office reported.