Man gets jail for threatening his probation officer

A Cheltenham man convicted of threatening his probation officer with a revolver was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison by a federal judge.

The sentence imposed on Nathanial Hurt, 26, included a mandatory 84 months on his conviction for brandishing a Ruger .44-caliber revolver when his probation officer visited him on July 14, 2004, at his home in the 900 block of Valley Road.

According to John Hageman, an agent with the Philadelphia Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Hurt - on probation after a firearms conviction in Philadelphia - pointed the firearm at his probation officer and then retreated into his house. Hageman said Hurt was arrested a short time later by Cheltenham police and the Montgomery County Narcotics Enforcement Team. A search of Hurt's house turned up the revolver and crack cocaine.

Hurt was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of using a firearm during a crime of violence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. A federal judge convicted Hurt on all charges on Dec. 19. - Joseph A. Slobodzian