LOS ANGELES – An Idaho drifter convicted of stalking actor-director Mel Gibson (search) was sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison.
Zack Sinclair (search), who had confronted Gibson after the release of his hit "The Passion of the Christ (search)," was convicted in March of one felony count of stalking.
Sinclair, 35, dressed in a yellow and blue jail jumpsuit, acted as his own attorney. He declined to speak during the brief sentencing hearing in Superior Court.
He has remained in custody and will immediately begin serving the sentence.
Gibson was not in court for the sentencing. A message left for his spokesman was not immediately returned.
During the trial, Gibson told jurors that he had feared for the safety of his wife and children after Sinclair approached him in a chapel while Gibson was worshipping in September 2004.
Gibson said he got up at one point during the service, but when he returned Sinclair was in his seat.
Gibson testified that Sinclair moved within a few inches of his face and told the star, "Hi, I'm here to pray with you."
He was escorted out by a friend of Gibson.
Gibson said Sinclair was not "overtly threatening" but he worried about his family's safety.
"My wife was upset and worried. She didn't want to find him in the living room drinking tea," Gibson said.
Sinclair was arrested in September 2004. Prosecutors said he went to the gate of Gibson's Malibu estate repeatedly that month after evading neighborhood security and asked to pray with the star.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox