A 22-year-old Chimayó man was charged Tuesday afternoon with a pair of misdemeanors in connection with Monday's death threat against a Santa Fe judge.

Police say Steven Anthony Martinez admitted late Monday to making a pair of threatening phone calls directed at state District Judge Michael Vigil in an attempt to postpone a sentencing hearing he thought he had that afternoon on felony burglary charges.

"I'm facing five to six years and I just panicked," Martinez reportedly told police, according to an affidavit filed Tuesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

Martinez has been charged with one count of using a telephone to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend; and a second count of resisting or obstructing an officer. Authorities say Martinez was hiding in bushes Monday night when deputies were searching for him near his Chimayó home.

The threats led to the evacuation of the courthouse, the blocking of several downtown streets Monday afternoon and the lockdown of nearby Carlos Gilbert Elementary School. County and city police officers were on hand for several hours Monday, and the final cost of the incident is still unclear.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, whose department is in charge of security at the state district courthouse, said he's upset with the charges filed.

"I am unhappy that we could only charge Mr. Martinez with misdemeanor charges," Solano said. "I ask that the Legislature at their next session take a serious look at creating a statute which would make threatening any public official or threats at a courthouse a fourth-degree felony."

The state House of Representatives in 2009 passed a bill that would make it a third-degree felony to threaten a judge and a second-degree felony to retaliate against judges by causing bodily injury or property damage. However, that bill died in the Senate.

Vigil, a popular judge around the Steve Herrera Judicial Complex, spent much of Tuesday on the bench trying to go about business as usual while constantly assuring concerned courthouse employees, state prosecutors, local defense attorneys and even defendants he was doing just fine after the scare. He did say he didn't think it was appropriate for him to talk about the case and declined further comment.

After arresting Martinez on an outstanding warrant Monday night near his home in Chimayó — police say they found him hiding in bushes — he is said to have confessed to making the threats, which included a 911 call at 1:22 p.m. in which he told an emergency dispatcher he overheard three other men talking about going to the courthouse armed with rifles and "one of them had a grudge with a District Judge Michael Vigil," according to the document.

At 2 p.m., a woman working in Vigil's office received a call in which, the arrest warrant states Martinez admitted to saying, "We are on our way right now to shoot you guys up."

Shortly after, Martinez and his parents, who were unaware of their son's calls, showed up at District Court in Santa Fe and were turned away at the door, according to police, who at the time did not know who had made the threatening phone calls. It was then that the arrest warrant affidavit states Martinez "knew his plan had worked."

The warrant used Monday night to arrest Martinez charged he did not show up for a court appearance earlier this month before Vigil. Had he shown up to that hearing, he would have learned his sentencing on felony burglary charges had been postponed until Sept. 20 instead of Monday.

Solano said police believe Martinez was still under the impression that Monday was his sentencing date, and the threats may have been an attempt to buy time.

A telephone message left with a Santa Fe defense attorney who is believed to be representing Martinez in the burglary case was not returned Tuesday.

Martinez's sentencing in the burglary case is expected to be delayed, and the case likely will be transferred to another judge.

Martinez is being held at the Santa Fe County jail in lieu of $1 million cash bond.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com.