A Cortez man was sentenced Friday to three years in the Department of Corrections after a jury in the U.S. 22nd Judicial District convicted him of six felony counts of menacing involving a knife and a simulated firearm against Cortez police officers.
French received credit for 366 days of presentence confinement.
French was convicted of six fifth-degree felony menacing counts. Three involved a knife and three involved a simulated firearm. He was also convicted of three misdemeanors for resisting arrest, obstructing government operations and disorderly conduct by displaying a simulated weapon. All victims were Cortez police officers.
Prosecutors had asked for a nine-year sentence, citing French’s criminal history and the danger he posed to the community, law enforcement and himself, 22nd Judicial District Attorney Jeremy Reed told The Journal.
The maximum possible sentence for the felonies, if served consecutively, was 18 years.
The convictions stemmed from a May 2025 confrontation when Cortez Police Department officers responded to a disturbance call at French’s mother’s home on Texas Street.
According to incident reports from responding officers, French left the residence and confronted officers on Empire Street while armed with a knife. He later dropped the knife before displaying an object resembling a firearm, reports and officer testimony said. Body camera footage captured officers’ commands and efforts to calm French during the altercation.
French later attempted to block the entry of officers when they obtained a warrant to enter the home.
French has a prior 2020 conviction for threatening a parole officer with a weapon that was later reversed on appeal, and he was acquitted by a jury in 2014 on assault and resisting arrest charges. French and his family also settled a 2016 lawsuit against the city of Cortez and several police officers, saying officers illegally entered their home.
bduran@the-journal.com
