Young Lee, the co-founder of the frozen yogurt franchise Pinkberry, was arrested after being found guilty of assaulting a homeless man in Los Angeles last June. Lee was recently put on trial after the incident in 2011 and is now being sentenced to seven years in prison. After being accused of chasing down and beating the panhandler with a tire iron, he was finally taken into custody and charged with assault.

In June of 2011 Lee and several of his friends were driving in his Ranger Rover when a man approached his car and asked for money. After speaking briefly with Lee, the man allegedly flashed him his explicit tattoo which featured two stick figures having sex. Lee became very upset as he found the tattoo offensive to him and his passengers, which featured his fiancé, and instructed one of them to reach in the back of the car to grab a tire iron. Lee and his accomplice went after the man and beat him with the iron until they fled the scene.

The victim, Donald Bolding said, “It was a bad day. I was assaulted,” he said at the hearing. “I’m befuddled. I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ That’s when he hits me with the tire iron.”

Bolding was later sent to the hospital and a warrant was put out for the arrest of Lee and his friend. Shortly after, witnesses called the authorities and provided a license plate to lead them to the culprit. In January of last year, a federal database tipped the LAPD that he would be taking a flight from Korea to Los Angeles, and would arrive soon. As soon as he stepped off of the plane, Lee was arrested for assault.

“Mr. Young Lee has no involvement with Pinkberry, our partners or our more than 170 stores world-wide. Pinkberry ended its ties with Mr. Lee formally on May 1, 2010. He has no influence or input into the company in any way, and the parties have not been in communication with one another since Mr. Lee’s exit,” said Pinkberry’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Design Laura Jakobsen.

Lee now faces a restitution hearing on May 14th and is no longer associated with the Pinkberry franchise.