A former Bismarck doctor has begun serving a 60-day jail sentence for terrorizing.

South Central District Judge Gail Hagerty sentenced Dr. Emilio Cruz to two years in jail with all but 60 days suspended and two years of supervised probation on Thursday.

Cruz was convicted of Class C felony terrorizing in July for threatening his girlfriend's 13-year-old son with a knife on Dec. 12, 2007. Hagerty was scheduled to sentence Cruz on Nov. 7, but he did not appear in court. According to letters to the judge from Cruz and his former attorney, Michael Hoffman, Cruz was in Las Vegas and his flight to Bismarck was canceled due to a snowstorm. A bond order prohibited Cruz from leaving North Dakota.

In court Thursday, Cruz requested sentencing be delayed for 45 days as he had recently fired Hoffman as his attorney. Hagerty denied the request, telling Cruz he had plenty of notice of the sentencing and could have found another attorney to represent him at the hearing.

Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Pam Nesvig recommended a sentence of three years in prison with all but 180 days suspended. She noted a number of problems with Cruz's behavior in the case.

She said the court had received a statement, purportedly from the victim in the case, in which the boy recanted his trial testimony and said he had been on drugs and couldn't be sure of what actually happened on the night of the incident. However, Bismarck Police Det. Roger Marks, at the request of prosecutors, had contacted the boy, who said he never wrote the statement.

The boy claimed his mother and Cruz had teased him about his handwriting and had him sign a blank piece of paper once, and he speculated that was how his signature came to be on the handwritten statement, Nesvig said.

She said the victim also told Marks that Cruz had lived with him and his mother in California from at least July 7 to Sept. 4. Cruz had been prohibited from having contact with the boy.

Nesvig also said prosecutors had checked with Allegiant Air to find out how they handled delays into Bismarck during the November snowstorm. The company's Web site indicated they honored tickets the following day, but Cruz did not turn himself in for a week and claimed to have taken a bus back to Bismarck, Nesvig said.

Cruz, representing himself at the Thursday afternoon hearing, maintained he acted in self-defense against his girlfriend's son. He claimed he had not been given the opportunity to present his defense of self-defense during his trial, but Hagerty countered that the jury had been instructed to consider self-defense or duress as defenses for the crime.

Hagerty also said she would not consider the victim statement, in any way, as evidence for sentencing. She said she could not be sure whether the victim had written the statement or if his statement about being coerced into signing blank paper was true.

The judge ordered Cruz taken into custody following the hearing. He will receive credit for time served. While on probation, he is prohibited from using alcohol, having contact with the victim or from being within 100 yards of the victim. He must pay $525 in court fees and complete anger management counseling.

Cruz, a neurologist, was terminated from Medcenter One on April 25, 2008, but officials at the hospital were unable to comment on the reason for his termination. His license with the North Dakota State Board of Medical Examiners is active through the end of 2009. He also is licensed to practice in California.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)