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Hye Kyung (Shelly) Hwang and Young Lee opened the first Pinkberry frozen yogurt store in January 2005 in West Hollywood, California. Lee is no longer associated with the company. Reuters

A co-founder of the successful yogurt chain Pinkberry was sentenced to a maximum seven years in prison without parole for the June 2011 beating of a homeless man.

Young Lee, 49, was found guilty by a jury on March 14 for the June 15, 2011, beating of Donald Bolding, reports the Los Angeles Times. Bolding was beat with a tire iron in the attack.

The incident occurred after Bolding showed a tattoo of a stick-figure couple engaging in a sexual act to the individuals in Lee's vehicle, including Lee's wife. Lee initially drove away from the homeless man. But he later returned, along with another man who had been in the car, to the street on East Hollywood to confront the homeless man. KABC reports he chased Bolding down, ordering him to apologize as well as kneel on the ground. Bolding did what Lee requested, but Lee still beat the homeless man. Bolding suffered numerous cuts on his head and a broken left forearm. But eventually several bystanders stepped in to stop the attack.

The verdict was reached by the jury in November. At that time, Lee was jailed without bail by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry Hall. Since Lee had threatened a witness in the case, Judge Hall considered him a "significant threat to the community," says the Times.

Lee helped found Pinkberry in 2005. He no longer is associated with the company. A restitution hearing in the case has been scheduled for May 14.