YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A judge has granted early release for an inmate who was convicted of shooting a man during a fight over a parking spot in Youngstown in 2018.

Nicholas Italiano went before Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony D’Apolito for a judicial release hearing on Wednesday morning.

In August of 2019, Italiano was sentenced to seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty of felonious assault with a firearm specification. The jury found him not guilty of attempted murder and another felonious assault charge.

Police arrested the Struthers man in September of 2018 following a dispute at Sami Quick Stop on Market Street.

Police said Italiano argued with a woman who parked next to him. When the woman’s fiance arrived, he and Italiano were involved in a physical fight.

Police said Italiano pulled out a handgun after he was punched in the face, but the man was running away at the time. Police said at the time, Italiano shot at the man, hitting him once, before driving away.

Italiano had argued that the shooting was in self-defense.

Italiano has been incarcerated at the Richland Correctional Institution.