A former Honolulu police recruit was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison yesterday for terrorizing his wife with a semi-automatic handgun.

Ernie Gomez, 27, was also sentenced to a year for abusing his wife, Sherly Gomez, 24, at their 'Ewa Beach home on May 30 last year roughly 10 days before Gomez and his recruit class graduated. He later resigned.

The yearlong sentence for abuse of a household member will run concurrently.

Gomez, who is in the Army National Guard, was free on $75,000 bail pending sentencing. He will not be taken into custody and is free on bail pending an appeal that will be heard in January, according to the city prosecutor's office.

At trial, Sherly Gomez testified that her husband became enraged after she kissed a friend on the cheek. She said he threatened her with a knife and a gun. Ernie Gomez did not testify, but his defense was that he never used either weapon.