Dustin Diamond was sentenced to four months in jail on Thursday morning stemming from a December bar brawl in which the former "Saved by the Bell" star was accused of stabbing someone.
Diamond, 38, was convicted earlier this month on two misdemeanor counts, although the court cleared
him of a felony charge, according to The Associated Press. In addition to four months in jail, Diamond will also serve 15 months of probation for his role in the Christmas Day barroom fight in Wisconsin.
Apologizing for his actions on “a night that centers around peace and love” and provided the “single most terrifying experience of my entire life,” Diamond told the court, “I want it to be clear that this
situation will be not repeated again,” according to CNN.
Witnesses testified that Amanda Schultz, Diamond’s girlfriend, initiated the barroom fight, according to the AP. When Diamond saw his girlfriend in trouble, he waved a knife to try to ward off the brawlers before accidentally stabbing a man. He initially told a Port Washington police officer that he struck the man with a pen, as revealed in body camera footage, before testifying in a later video that he had a concealed knife with him at the bar.
“I was fearing for her safety and her life,”
Diamond said, according to ABC News.
The court fined Schultz $500 for disorderly conduct and, during Diamond’s sentencing, Judge Paul Malloy said that the court “has to send a message to the community that we're just not going to live like this,” the AP reported.
After the guilty verdicts, Diamond’s lawyer told ABC News that “we’re happy with the results, we think that justice has been done. The jury did a good job.”
This is not Diamond’s first run-in with the law, however, as the actor has been sued several times for delinquent taxes and missing mortgage payments, according to the AP.