From [HERE] Marc Garza, a decorated Jacksonville police sergeant turned convicted felon, walked into the Duval County Courthouse with a bag about the size of an airplane carry-on.

He brought a handful of prescription bottles, a Bible and a pair of eyeglasses. He was facing up to six years in prison and vented just days before Tuesday's sentencing on his own website that he was convinced prosecutors would be arguing for at least two.

He wound up getting nine months in the Duval County jail after Circuit Judge Thomas Beverly heard arguments and testimony.

Garza, 44, was found guilty of false reports and official misconduct in January.

He was the leader of an aggressive unit designed to combat the city's homicide rate. Prosecutors say he took the role too far by breaking into an abandoned house on West 26th Street with no warrant in August 2009, then approving a bogus burglary report to cover his tracks.

Garza almost immediately took off his belt and his sky blue necktie, handing both to the bailiffs, when the verdict was read. He didn't wait to be asked.

That wasn't the only evidence of a man who full well knew the routine.

Garza's mother-in-law, Barbara Seston, became emotional testifying about a conversation she overheard between Garza and his daughters.

"'If Daddy has to go away for a while, I don't expect any less from you girls. You do your work. You exercise. You go to bed on time and you listen to your mother,' " she said. "He wasn't worried about himself. He was worried about his children."

Prosecutor Rich Komando argued that lurking within the family man and youth soccer coach presented by the defense was a dirty cop who didn't deserve a break.

"This guy shakes the foundation of the trust that the community and society is supposed to have in law enforcement," Komando said.

Tuesday's sentencing was not the end of Garza's hero-to-handcuffs story, either. He also is awaiting trial on charges he beat a handcuffed drug suspect with a police radio.

Garza served for nearly 14 years. He received special recognition for rescuing a woman during a 2008 shooting and he was credited with saving another shooting victim's life in 2007.

Defense attorney Mitch Stone said Garza's former prowess as a police officer makes him a liability in the prison system. He'll have to be placed in solitary confinement for his own safety.

Stone also described a man who'd been suffering from depression and anxiety as part of the job. He said Garza needed probation and a chance to move on with life.

Prosecutors built the case with the testimony of former Officer David Cervone, who was arrested as the author of the burglary report. Cervone said Garza instructed him to write it although Garza contends Cervone's police work led the team to the West 26th Street house in the first place.

Cervone pleaded guilty to false reports and had to perform community service and pay $2,500 in prosecution costs.