A convicted dog killer who skipped bail during the first phase of her cruelty to animals trial was ordered by a judge Thursday to serve three years in prison.

Herlinda Trigo, 46, told Visiting Judge Pat Priest that she was absent for the weeklong trial in January because she was "scared" of being sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Cruelty to animals usually carries a maximum sentence of two years in a state jail, but it was enhanced because she was alleged to have used a deadly weapon and because she has been to prison before.

Witnesses told jurors that in June 2012 they saw a dog attached to the bumper of her truck with a cable, running to keep up as she drove through West Side streets. Eventually, witnesses said, the dog could no longer keep up and was dragged to death. They attempted to alert Trigo to the dog's presence but were rebuffed, they testified. One man said Trigo spit and cussed at him to leave her alone.

Gorda, a small black-and-white mixed-breed dog, was a gift from Trigo's daughter and had recently given birth, she said in court Thursday. She wasn't sure how the dog ended up tied to her bumper but she was courteous and thankful when strangers told her about her pet being dragged behind her pickup, she testified.

Because her truck was deemed a deadly weapon, Trigo will have to serve at least half of the sentence before she will be eligible to apply for parole.