While he and his friends may have emerged unharmed from a scrap with several others outside Beeson St. Bar last winter, a Dowagiac man will face legal retribution for his assaultive behavior that night.

Judge Michael Dodge sentenced 22-year-old Jamel Raheem Vincent to one year in jail and two years of probation during his appearance in Cass County Court Friday morning. The Dowagiac man was punished for a count of assault with dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon, charges that he pleaded no contest to during an appearance in court June 24.

The fight in question occurred during the early morning hours of Nov. 4, inside the Beeson St. Bar in Dowagiac.

At some point during the night, Vincent and a group of his friends got into an argument with a group of other men at the pool table of the establishment, allegedly over racially-charged comments made by the victims, Dodge said.

The altercation spilled out into the bar’s parking lot, where the argument escalated into violence.

“You and your friends came out of this thing completely uninjured,” the judge said, addressing the defendant. “However, for the victims of the assault, it was a different story. You put most of them in the hospital.”

The principal victim of the assault, Steven Green, suffered a concussion from the beating, along with a broken nose and ankle, requiring him to undergo surgery, Dodge said. Two other victims were found unconscious on the scene by police, while another had his tongue split open after being kicked in the face several times, the judge added.

There was evidence to suggest that Vincent, in particular, had attacked Green with a bottle, though the defendant denies this claim, Dodge said.

In spite of his young age, Vincent has racked up four prior felony convictions, including assault and battery and several counts of resisting arrest, Dodge said.

Given his past record, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Frank Machnik asked that, on top of the jail sentence worked out in a plea deal between the defendant and prosecutors, Vincent also be given a three-year probation sentence, he said.

“I think three years of probation, where the court has something hanging over his head, would serve the citizens of Cass County, as well as him being in jail for a year,” Machnik said.

Vincent’s attorney, James Miller, asked Dodge to take into account the fact that Green was heavily intoxicated at the time, with a .15 blood-alcohol level, as well as the fact that Vincent’s claims that he did use a bottle in the attack were corroborated by the results of a polygraph test he had taken.

“I want to say sorry to the court and to the community,” Vincent said, speaking on his behalf in court that morning. “I understand I made a bad decision that night, being out and drinking. But I am not the person everyone makes me out to be. I just made a minor mistake.”

On top of the jail and probation time, Vincent was also ordered to help pay $23,405 jointly with the other assailants in the incident back to the victims.

The man was also given credit of 171 days already served behind bars.

Also sentenced Friday:

• Sarah Ray Johnson, 38, of Dowagiac, to two years of probation for possession of cocaine and possession of analogues.

• Gary Gerard Miketinas Jr., 34, of Three Rivers, to 30 days in jail and two years of probation for breaking and entering with intent and larceny in a building.

• Joseph Noah Vankirk, 30, of Niles, to 300 days in jail for domestic violence.

• Andrew John Siesel, 28, of Edwardsburg, to two years of probation for unlawfully driving away an automobile, lying to a police officer and breaking and entering.