Isaiah Lee, 24, was sentenced on Wednesday for his alleged May 3 attack on Dave Chappelle during the comedian’s performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
After Lee pleaded “no contest” on two misdemeanor counts — entering a restricted area during a live event and battery — prosecutors agreed to a deal that would land him in Los Angeles County jail for nine months.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office confirmed that Lee was sentenced to serve 270 days behind bars, according to entertainment site TMZ.
Lee allegedly charged onto the stage during Chappelle’s set, evading security and tackling the comedian before he ran off the stage and attempted to escape. Chappelle’s friends proved to be more effective than security had been, however, and they were able to take the attacker down, breaking his arm in the process.
Chappelle continued with the show and paused during an after-party to express thanks to his friends — joking at one point that fellow comedian Jon Stewart had been a part of the group attacking the suspect.
“I felt good my friends broke his arm. I felt good, how bad does a n***** have to be that Jon Stewart would stomp him!” Chappelle joked, adding that it would have been “stupid” for them to kill the attacker.
“Those are very powerful friends and I’m sharing [this night] with people I love very much,” he added.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon was widely criticized for refusing to charge Lee with a felony. Ultimately, the L.A. City Attorney filed four misdemeanor charges against him. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami disagreed with Gascon’s decision, telling Fox News at the time, “Anyone who arms themselves with a deadly weapon, in this case a knife, and violently attacks an innocent person, famous or not, should be charged accordingly … With only a misdemeanor charge, the person could be released soon, with only a slap on the wrist. That fails to provide justice to the victim, accountability for this person’s actions, and safety to the general public.”
The weapon Lee allegedly carried was a replica gun with a blade attached to it — which he had carried in a bag and never took out to use it to threaten Chappelle — is reportedly slated to be destroyed.
