Man Found Guilty Of Kidnapping Daughter Sentenced To 8-22 Years In Prison

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The man found guilty of kidnapping his own daughter and causing a standoff in Altoona last year was back in court today to be sentenced.

Tex Ortiz will spend eight to 22 years in prison.

His daughter's grandmother had this reaction after the sentencing:

"He did get a lot of time," said Lori Clark, "and I just wish that his choices would have been different from the beginning and that he would have never been locked up but, as I stated, choices have consequences and unfortunately he's been making bad choices for a while now."

In January after his arrest, Ortiz told reporters at his preliminary hearing, "Daddy loves you Jaleeyah. Big misunderstanding."

In a dispute over custody, Ortiz was charged with kidnapping after he took his daughter Jaleeyah, then 2 years old, and neither was seen for nearly two weeks until a SWAT team surrounded a house where they were in Altoona.

The child was not harmed. But the exposure to that kind of drama has affected an otherwise bright and fun loving 3-year-old, according to her grandmother.

"She's shown signs of being afraid," said Lori Clark. "She tells me she's afraid sometimes when it's dark or what not and I just constantly reassure her 'You're safe' and I tell her that all the time and she repeats it to me, 'I'm safe Neena and I'm happy' and that's what I'll continue to do."

Ortiz always claimed he wasn't aware that he lost custody and that he did what any parent would do who felt painted into a corner. He also calimed he never intended to harm the child.

Ortiz told Judge Donna Jo McDaniel that he stood before her as a broken man and that the jury got it all wrong - but the judge told him in effect his own actions sent him to jail.

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