ROCHESTER, N.Y. — One of the men charged in connection with the shooting of a Rochester police officer two years ago is headed to prison.

Kamiu Blake was sentenced in court on Thursday.

Blake didn't actually pull the trigger that injured Rochester Police Officer Jeremy Nash in June of 2017, but Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Gallagher argues that Blake's actions led to the shooting.

Gallagher told the court, "Mr. Blake, by all accounts, fired the first shot.  He started this incident.  While he may have not shot Officer Nash, he set things in motion."

Just before sentencing, Blake addressed the court with an apology, saying, "I want to apologize to whoever was hurt during the situation that happened and I’m 18, I made a couple mistakes.  Everybody makes mistakes and I want to apologize to my mom."

His mother and other family members were in court.

Judge Charles Schiano spoke to the defendant, saying, "You know the 17-year-olds are running around this community with guns, threatening people, shooting at people thinking the city’s the wild wild west. The city’s not the wild wild west. This is where people live. This is our community.”

Then the judge sentenced Blake to what had been previously been agreed to in a plea deal, a 12-year stint in prison.

That's when Blake pleaded guilty to attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Despite efforts from Blake's attorney to consider the youthful offender status, as Blake was 17 at the time of the offense, the judge moved forward and sentenced him as an adult.  

Blake will also concurrently serve a five-year term for the weapons conviction.

Defense Attorney Christian Kennedy told the court, "Twelve years is a very long time for a 17-year-old kid, and I’ll call him a kid because to me, that’s what he is, a child who made some very bad decisions."

Officer Nash recovered and returned to duty. Even with good behavior taken into consideration, Blake will likely not be free until he's 28 years old.