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Man Who Made Threatening Calls To Newtown Residents Following Massacre Sentenced To Prison

HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) - A man who made threatening phone calls to Newtown residents in the days following the 2012 school shooting has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Wilfrido Cardenas Hoffmann pleaded guilty in December, admitting he made the calls from his home in Venezuela after watching television news coverage of the massacre.

Cardenas asked for a sentence of time served in light of a need for medical treatment for schizophrenia. Prosecutors did not make a recommendation on an appropriate sentence.

He was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Hartford.

Cardenas threatened over the phone to kill people following the slaughter of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Daly said he used a computerized application to disguise his voice to randomly call Newtown residents.

"Comments were threatening, often referenced Adam Lanza himself and made clear, direct threats to kill people who were on the phone," attorney Deirdre Daly told WCBS 880's Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau.

He was arrested in June as he passed through the Miami International Airport on his way from Venezuela to Mexico.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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