A 39-year-old Milwaukee man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for pointing a gun at a mail carrier who earlier had pepper-sprayed the man's charging pit bull.

As a convicted felon, David Polnitz Jr. shouldn't have even had a gun on June 27, 2017, according to the indictment filed later that year. Polnitz admitted he argued with the carrier, but denied he ever returned to confront him with a gun or threatened to kill him.

A jury found him guilty in November of being a felon with a gun and using it to assault a mail carrier while he performed his duties.

The mail carrier, Kevin Phillips, said he was certain about his identification of Polnitz because of ear-length dreadlocks and distinctive "Pepsi blue" contact lenses. And police found the same size and color of gun the carrier described when they went to Polnitz's house in the 4600 block of North 35th Street, though there were no fingerprints or DNA tying it to Polnitz.

Polnitz said his wife had called him at work about the dog, Denise, being sprayed, and that on the way home he stopped his van to ask Phillips if he had done it. Phillips said he had. According to Polnitz, they argued, but that was it. The dog had been bathed and was OK and things were calm at home, so Polnitz returned to work, he said.

Polnitz suggested Phillips lied about him having a gun.

When he was arrested, Polnitz had told police he had a water gun with him, but that evidence was later suppressed and not introduced at trial.

Craig Goldberg, the inspector in charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said the sentence "should send a strong message that Postal Service employees should not be threatened or intimidated while performing their official duties, and should be off limits to acts of violence."

At the sentencing last week, Goldberg told U.S. District Judge Pamela Pepper that such incidents have a ripple effect for carriers, who often must return to the same area and may live in the same area. He noted that Phillips randomly encountered Polnitz, who was free on bail, prior to the trial and considered not testifying "because he greatly feared for his safety."

The government requested a 5½-year sentence.

"The sad fact is that individuals like Polnitz, who use firearms to escalate normal, everyday disagreements are the primary driver of violence in Milwaukee," according to the government's sentencing memo.

"They must be deterred because using a firearm to settle ordinary disputes is devastating to a neighborhood."

The defense noted Polnitz had turned his life around completely since he served prison for a 2000 conviction related to an armed robbery. He is married, with two children, and steady employment.

His lawyer suggested probation was appropriate.

Pepper said prosecutors' request was too high, but that her obligation to justice prevented her from imposing probation. She settled on the three-year prison term followed by three years of supervised release.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.