CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) — A Gary man has been sentenced to six years in prison for fatally shooting an 18-year-old trying to steal his car after he left it running outside a liquor store.

The (Munster) Times reports Lake Criminal Judge Samuel Cappas told 52-year-old James Adams as he handed down the sentence on Wednesday that auto theft doesn’t justify the killing of the thief.

A Lake County jury acquitted Adams of murder in April, instead finding him guilty of reckless homicide in the death of Anfernee Jones on Oct. 31. Adams maintained he acted in self-defense.

Defense attorney Scott King said it was hypocritical for the state to have lax gun rules, but then act surprised when people arm themselves out of fear that everyone else is armed.