A Torrance man was sentenced Wednesday to 180 days in jail and three years probation for making a series of 9-1-1 calls for laughs, reporting fictitious shootings and other crimes that drew huge police responses, putting officers and the public in danger.

Michael Sumolang, 28, was sentenced in Torrance Superior Court after he pleaded no contest to a charge of conspiracy to commit false reporting of an emergency, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said.

Sumolang, who confessed when he was arrested in March, can serve his time in county jail or pay to serve at a city jail. Free on bail, he must surrender Dec. 6.

Sumolang and a friend, Corey Jackson, 29, of Gardena were ordered in June to stand trial for making nine fake 9-1-1 calls that affected police officers and residents in Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Hawthorne and El Segundo.

The calls often are referred to as “swatting” because they sometimes draw large police responses that involve SWAT teams.

A clip of one call played in court involved a man reporting he had just witnessed a Los Angeles police officer shoot his wife in the chest. The officer, the man said, was holding a loaded machine gun as he waited for police to arrive.

The calls particularly plagued Gardena police because Sumolang and Jackson sent police to their former addresses in the city. The calls included reports of shots fired with wounded victims and dead bodies, gunmen, and a woman shot in her home.

During an interview in February with the Daily Breeze, Sumolang said he did not remember making the calls and admitted to being “under the influence of some kind of narcotic at the time.”

Bott described the calls as “reckless and dangerous behavior.”

“One of the officers almost caused a head-on collision with a random civilian,” Bott said. “The addresses given were random people’s houses. You can imagine getting ordered out at gunpoint at 2 a.m.”

Prosecutors asked Judge Alan Honeycutt to impose a 16-month sentence. The terms include provisions that Sumolang cannot drink alcohol or use drugs.

Jackson, who also was free on bail, did not come to court Wednesday. A warrant was issued for his arrest.