An illegal immigrant was sentenced to one to four years in prison for a November fight in which a man was stabbed in the back.
Jesus Zarate-Perez, 23, pleaded guilty in the Nov. 10 dispute with a neighbor. He told Carson City District Court Judge James E. Wilson Jr. that he was acting in self-defense, but that pleading to the charge was better than possibly losing the case before a jury.
"I feel that I am not guilty. That the fight was started by the other person," said Zarate-Perez through an interpreter. "I feel I was attacked."
The fight erupted outside the complex on Woodside Drive where Zarate-Perez and the victim lived. Both sides had been drinking that evening and a long-standing feud between the two parties boiled over, with several people joining in the melee.
Zarate-Perez said that after a woman smashed a beer bottle over his head, he pulled out a knife he used for work to frighten the assailants away so he could get inside his apartment.
"If I'm lying, why's (the victim) not here to say that I'm lying," he said.
Prosecutor Ed Oueilhe said that the victim and his family moved out of state and were fearful of retaliation.
Zarate-Perez's brother Jose Zarate-Perez was supposed to be sentenced on Monday, but already has been deported. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest should he return to America.
Cruz Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 21, was sentenced to three years probation with 12 to 30 months in prison suspended, on a charge of attempted assault with a deadly weapon.