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A man who was charged with making threats with a gun while wearing body armor in August is going to prison.

Jose Juan Alvarez-Bentzin, Jr., 25, was sentenced Wednesday in Mower County District Court to 36 months in prison for felony second degree assault with a dangerous weapon and 13 months in prison for committing a crime while wearing/possessing a bullet resistant vest, also a felony.

The two sentences are to run concurrently and he was given credit for 97 days served. Four other charges related to the case were dismissed. 

He was also sentenced to 21 months in prison for felony third degree drug sales or possession in a second case that dates back to March of 2022, and will run concurrently with the first case. He was also given credit for 107 days served

A gross misdemeanor drug possession charge from a third case was dismissed.

Alvarez-Bentzin, Jr. was arrested on Aug. 11 of this year and charged originally with five felony counts and one gross misdemeanor related to an altercation at a home in the 700 block of Sixth Avenue NW late that morning. Austin police and Mower County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to the scene for a report of a man threatening people with a gun while wearing the bulletproof vest.

When law enforcement arrived, an officer first on the scene located Alvarez-Bentzin, Jr. standing by the garage of the home while wearing the vest. After commands to get down on the ground, Alvarez-Bentzin, Jr. eventually complied, taking off the vest and sitting on the ground where he was placed in handcuffs.

A search of Alvarez-Bentzin, Jr.’s person revealed a Baretta Brevettto handgun with a loaded magazine and one in the chamber. Another bullet was discovered in a pocket.

In the second case Alvarez-Bentzin, Jr. was arrested after selling drugs to a confidential informant on March 30, 2022. The informant was able to purchase four baggies of what was later proven to be cocaine.