Pinkberry Co-Founder Young Lee received the maximum sentence Friday for reportedly beating a homeless man with a tire iron The Los Angeles Times reported.
"What this case boils down to at the end of the day, is nothing more or nothing less than a savage attack on a defenseless person," Judge Henry Hall said during the sentencing hearing The Times reported.
Hall, who felt the incident was "horrendous," and "fairly merciless" acknowledged the people who assisted in preventing the attacks from worsening,.
"We might be here talking about a wholly different set of facts," Hall said The Times reported.
"If it wasn't for those good people, this would have been a murder case. I have no doubt in my mind," Hall said during the hearing The Times reported.
Lee approached Daniel Bolding in June 2011, after he reportedly displayed a tattoo, sexual in nature, to many individuals in Lee's car such as his fiancee The AP reported.
Lee then left in his car and later returned with another man. He then hit Bolding two times in the head and fractured his arm during the attack. Witnesses eventually broke up the altercation.
Prosecutors said Lee confronted Daniel Bolding in June 2011 after he flashed a sexually explicit tattoo to several people in Lee's car, including his fiancee. Lee drove away, and came back with another man who'd been in the car and beat Bolding.
Jieun Kim, Lee's wife expressed grief for the effect the case has had on their son The Times reported.
"It hurts me deeply when my child, who just started speaking, asks for his dad. I beg you to not separate our family, to keep our family together," Kim told Hall The Times reported.
Bolding's attorney Gary Casselman felt the sentencing decision was justified.
"It's unfortunate when somebody goes to prison, but it was probably well-deserved here. Not probably. It was well-deserved," Casselman told The Times.
Lee's attorney, Phillip Kent Cohen wanted Lee to be evaluated to see if his situation was out of the norm on a legal basis, and sufficient for probation rather than head to prison The Times reported.
