Lawande Haggard insisted in Federal Court on Monday that "I ain't no bad person," but Judge Sandy Mattice sentenced him to serve 80 months in federal prison.
Haggard, 25, had been involved in a gunbattle on Fagan Street last March. Haggard and Jabari Jennings were trading shots from a rental car with people on the street. Haggard was shot in the leg and Jennings, 25, was shot in the face and killed.
Prosecutor Chris Poole said Haggard has a violent background, saying he was involved in one attack along with two others on a man who wound up losing an eye and suffering a broken jaw and finger.
Haggard said he "never touched" the victim in that case and said it was a street fight.
He said he "just had some misunderstandings. When I was growing up I didn't have shoes. I didn't have anything to eat. I did what I had to do to grow up."
The prosecutor said Haggard is a member of the Alton Park Bloods.