Cop Gets 25 Years for Murdering Bar Owner Who Threw Him Out

He used to be known as customs officer Jose Guadalupe Elizondo, but for the next 25 years he'll be known as a prisoner.

A jury convicted the 33-year-old former Customs and Border Protection officer of first-degree murder in a fatal bar shooting in August of last year.

His sentence was handed down shortly after the verdict.

Investigators say Elizondo used his government-issued gun when he shot and killed bar owner Fermin Limon in the leg and chest, outside Limon's Punto Tres nightclub in Palmhurst.

One of the prosecutors in the case says it's always difficult to try a case involving someone once sworn to uphold the law.

"Unfortunately we had to prosecute a colleague but when you break the law you are subject to it,” said Griselda Rincon Flores. “And I feel the jury did what was right and I feel that justice was served for Mr. Limon.

Judge John Fleming said he decided against jail time, explaining he did not believe the crime was serious enough and that throwing Abbate in prison would not be a deterrent to others.

"If I believed that sending Anthony Abbate to prison would stop people from getting drunk and hitting other people, I'd sentence him to the maximum," the judge said. "But I don't believe that is the case."