MIAMI (AP) — Mexican actor Pablo Lyle was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for manslaughter after fatally beating a man during a 2019 Miami street confrontation.
The verdict came nearly four years after Lyle was charged with the murder of a man he ran over in a traffic accident.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez handed down the verdict two months after denying the actor’s request for a new trial and upholding a jury’s guilty verdict in October.
The 36-year-old Mexican telenovela star, who appeared in the Netflix detective series Yankee, faces a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The judge also sentenced the actor to eight years probation, conflict resolution management and 500 hours of community service.
The actor has 30 days to appeal the verdict.
Lyle, dressed in a red prison uniform, appeared calm and expressed remorse throughout the more than three-hour hearing. He has been detained since his conviction on October 4.
“I’m so sorry,” Lyle said in Spanish, looking at some of the Hernández family members who were in the courtroom, including his son. “I always pray with all my heart for him and for you.”
After a week-long trial, a six-person jury found Lyle guilty of manslaughter in the death of 63-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernández.
Hernández, unarmed, suffered head trauma and died in hospital four days later.
Lyle’s attorneys argued he acted in self-defense. They also said there were inconsistencies in the evidence at trial.
However, during the sentencing hearing, the judge said Lyle made a “bad decision” and acted “out of anger”.
“The evidence shows that Mr. Lyle’s action was an act of violence,” Tinkler said. “Mr. Lyle must be held accountable for these actions.
The street confrontation was filmed by surveillance cameras.
Lyle’s brother-in-law took the actor, his wife and two children to the airport. Their car passed Hernández’s, who stopped at a red light, got out, and approached the driver’s window of Lyle’s vehicle to claim that they had blocked his path.
According to security video footage, Lyle and Hernández got into an argument and the actor slapped Hernández in the face. Lyle claimed he was defending himself. He said his children were scared and he feared Hernández had a gun.
At the hearing, Lyle’s wife, brother-in-law and sister testified before the judge made his decision public.
On Hernández’s side, his son described him as a very cheerful and thoughtful person with good health and principles. Juan Ricardo Hernández Jr. asked the judge to sentence Lyle to a maximum sentence of 15 years.
He said he was with his father the day before the altercation.
“I didn’t want to believe it was him,” Hernández’s son said as he drove to the hospital to see his father after hearing news of the incident.
Gisela Salomon, The Associated Press
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