OC Football Coach Gets 9 Months In Jail For Standoff, Sex With Student

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — A former Orange County high school football coach will serve nine months in prison after pleading guilty to having a sexual relationship with a student and engaging police in a 10-hour standoff earlier this year.

As part of a deal with prosecutors, Michael James Snitzler, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday in Orange County Superior Court to a felony count of possession of a firearm in a school zone and one count each of unlawful sexual intercourse and possession of ammunition on school property, both misdemeanors.

He was sentenced to nine months in jail and five years of probation.

Snitzler was an assistant varsity football coach at El Modena High School in Orange, when, in March, he began a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student, the O.C. District Attorney's Office reports.

On the morning of April 23, the victim's family called police regarding Snitzler.

When investigators attempted to contact him at the high school, he locked himself in an office with a loaded gun, prompting a 10-hour standoff before he finally surrendered, the DA's office said.

Before agreeing to the lesser counts, Snitzler had faced weapons and child annoyance charges that could have carried a sentence of more than 10 years in prison.