Flint man gets prison time for shooting handyman over crack dispute

FLINT, MI -- A Flint man is headed to prison for more than a decade after authorities claimed he shot a handymanwho he said he hired to do electrical work on his home in exchange for crack.

Joseph Dante Lee, 33, was sentenced Monday, Jan. 12, by Genesee Circuit Judge Archie Hayman to 10-20 years in prison after jurors found him guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder after prosecutors accused him of shooting a man in the chest at his home in November 2013.

He was also ordered to serve a consecutive two-year prison term for felony firearms.

Lee maintained his innocence during the sentencing hearing, and claimed he was acting in self-defense.

Authorities claimed Lee hired the victim to do electrical work on his home. In exchange for the work, Lee offered to pay the man in crack cocaine, they said.

Lee provided the man with cocaine and left the home. However, when Lee returned home, prosecutors claim a dispute ensued between the two men after Lee claimed the victim helped himself to more of his crack.

Prosecutors said Lee then shot the victim in the chest. The bullet traveled down the victim's body before being lodged in his groin. Lee dragged the victim out to the porch of the house, called 911, and used a fake name to tell dispatchers the victim was shot by another person during a robbery.

The victim was transported to the hospital where he was treated for his injury. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet.

Lee's attorney, John Tosto, argued that the victim, who authorities say was using crack throughout the day of the shooting, provided inconsistent testimony.

However, Janet McLaren, a special assistant Attorney General assigned to the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office, claimed that it was Lee's testimony claiming self-defense that was inconsistent during the trial.

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Flint man gets prison time for shooting handyman over crack dispute