Pablo Lyle, a Mexican actor known for his telenovela roles, was sentenced to five years in prison minus time served after he was convicted of manslaughter stemming from a March 2019 road rage incident.
The 36-year-old actor was convicted of manslaughter in October for the death of Juan Ricardo Hernandez, a 63-year-old Cuban man who instigated the incident.
Lucas Del Fino, Lyle's brother-in-law, was driving him and his family to Miami International Airport on March 31, 2019, when he took a wrong exit and cut off Hernandez as they approached a stoplight.
Hernandez exited his car near the intersection and punched Del Fino's driver-side window, police said.
Del Fino then got out and began yelling at Hernandez to not bang on his car, but forgot to put the vehicle into park. The car began rolling into the street and Lyle got out of the car to try to stop the vehicle.Del Fino was able to get back into his car to stop it from continuing to roll forward with the other passengers inside of it, surveillance video shows.
Lyle then punched Hernandez, who fell down and suffered a head injury which he later died from at a local hospital.
Lyle's attorney Bruce Lehr argued that his client made a "three-second adrenaline-filled mistake" and is not a criminal.
The actor delivered a tearful apology to Hernandez's family during the sentencing hearing on Friday, saying, "I can only imagine the pain of losing a loved one, someone that important, especially in a situation like this."
Speaking in English, Lyle added that he hoped the sentencing would bring Hernandez's family closure and that he was "so very sorry" for the pain that he caused.
"Mr. Hernandez lost his life because of something I did, something that walks with me, that haunts me when I go to bed and is still there when I wake up," Lyle said.
"I never wanted any of this to happen. I never in my wildest dreams thought that something like this could have happened that a life could be lost and so many others affected so drastically because of one punch."
Lyle's conviction will be "vigorously challenged on appeal," Lehr said.
"He's innocent. He didn't break the law in the state of Florida. He was defending his family," the attorney said. "But the sentence was fair based on the judge's consideration of what we presented to her."
