A 30-year-old man accused of attempting to kill a Casper police officer was sentenced on Wednesday to serve eight to 14 years in prison on two methamphetamine distribution charges.

The sentencing comes as Zacharia Cohen awaits the beginning of his trial next month on charges that include attempted first-degree murder. He was arrested March 3 after a brief chase in Casper and then a struggle with a police officer, according to police reports.

In jail, according to court testimony, Cohen said during a recorded phone conversation that he had tried to stall the officer who arrested him so he could get his gun cocked and "blow his f--ing teeth out the back of his head."

That statement was apparently among the reasons that prosecutors filed a stiffer set of charges against Cohen about two months after his arrest. At first, he faced felony drug, weapons and assault charges, as well as two misdemeanors. In May, prosecutors added the attempted first-degree murder charge, which carries a possible life prison sentence, and also accused Cohen of being a habitual violent criminal, which also carries the possibility of life imprisonment.

Cohen's arrest March 3 came after two agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation reportedly spotted him at a Mills gas station standing beside a black Chevrolet Camaro. A chase developed but Cohen ultimately got away.

A Casper officer later pulled over a GMC Jimmy in the area of McKinley and B streets. According to testimony, a passenger in the vehicle refused to put down a cell phone, at which point the officer reportedly tried to pull the man from the vehicle.

Another Casper officer reported seeing a gun fly from the man's hand during that activity, according to testimony, and a loaded Ruger pistol was later found in the vehicle.

The DCI agents were looking for Cohen following an investigation into his drug distribution efforts. Cohen pleaded guilty in August both to delivering methamphetamine and to conspiring to distribute the drug. His trial on charges connected with events in March is scheduled to begin Oct. 16 in 7th District Court.

Reporter Anthony Lane can be reached at (307) 266-0593 or at anthony.lane@casperstartribune.net.