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A Florida man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday for shooting at George Zimmerman, who had shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012 in a case that garnered national attention, prosecutors said.

Matthew Apperson, 37, was convicted by a jury last month of second-degree attempted murder for firing at Zimmerman, 33, during a roadside confrontation in Lake Mary, Florida in May 2015.

A Sanford, Florida jury had acquitted Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watchman, of murder in the fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Martin. The case sparked the Black Lives Matter activist movement that campaigns against violence towards black people.

Circuit Court Judge Debra Nelson in Seminole County called Apperson "a danger to the community" as she handed down the mandatory minimum sentence on Monday, ABC-affiliate WFTV 9 said.

Apperson also was sentenced to 15 years each for convictions of shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm stemming from the altercation with Zimmerman, who sustained minor injuries from shattered glass, Florida State Attorney spokeswoman Lynne Bumpus-Hooper said.

The judge ordered the sentences be served concurrently.

"Bottom line, it's a 20-year sentence," Bumpus-Hooper said.

Apperson served about 14 months of his sentence while awaiting and undergoing trial.

His attorney was not immediately available for comment.

During his trial, Apperson testified that the shooting was in self defense. Zimmerman testified it was unprovoked and that he and Apperson had been involved in another roadside altercation in September 2014, in which Apperson, who is white, had accused him of being in the wrong over the shooting death of Martin.

Zimmerman claimed to have acted in self-defense when he shot Martin, a high school student who was walking through the community after stopping at a convenience store.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alan Crosby)

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Florida man gets 20 years in attempted murder of George ...

George Zimmerman looks at the jury as he testifies in a Seminole County courtroom Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016 in Orlando, Fla. in Matthew Appersons second-degree attempted murder trial.

Red Huber, AP

SANFORD, Fla. -- A Florida man whoshot at George Zimmermans vehicle during an on-road confrontationhas been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that at the sentencing hearing Monday morning, Zimmerman said 38-year-old Matthew Apperson showed no regard for human life during the May 2015 confrontation, and even seemed joyful because he mistakenly thought hed killed Zimmerman.

A witness told Crimesider after the incident that Apperson had pulled into the parking lot of the commercial complex where he works, telling him, Please call 911, I just shot George Zimmerman!

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A Florida man, Ken Cornell, says he spoke to the man who allegedly shot at George Zimmerman's car. CBSN's Parvati Shallow and Vladimir Duthiers t...

Zimmerman testified last month that he was driving to a doctors appointment when he noticed he was being pursued by a vehicle whose driver later pulled up, exchanged words andfired one gunshot at him that missed.

Zimmerman is the former neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted of second-degree murder afterfatally shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

There had apparently been an ongoing dispute between Apperson and Zimmerman. Apperson alleged in September 2014 that Zimmerman threatened him in a road-rage encounter, but did not press charges at the time.

Apperson was convicted by a Seminole County jury last month of attempted second-degree murder, armed aggravated assault and shooting into a vehicle. Apperson testified at trial that he acted in self-defense after Zimmerman flashed a gun. Zimmerman disputed that.

2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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George Zimmerman update: Sentence for gunman Matthew ...

George Zimmerman, the man acquitted for killing unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, was shot at by a man in Lake Mary, Florida. Hear the 911 call from the incident. VPC

Matthew Apperson makes a first appearance in Seminole County court at the John E Polk correctional facility, seen on a video monitor, in Sanford, Fla., on May 16, 2015.(Photo: Joshua C. Cruey, AP)

A Florida man who fired at George Zimmerman during a road-rage altercation was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday, authorities said.

Matthew Apperson, 38, was convicted by a Seminole Countyjury last month of attempted second-degree murder,armed aggravated assaultand shooting into a vehicle during a confrontation in Lake Mary, Fla., in May 2015.

Apperson told authorities he acted in self-defenseafter Zimmerman threatened him by pointing a gun at him first. Zimmerman disputed Apperson's claim, testifying that Apperson pulled up next to his pickupand shot him the bullet missing and striking the passenger side window.Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from the broken glass.

In an audio recording of a 911 call releasedby Lake Mary Police in 2015, an unidentified man told a dispatcher, "A guy just said he had to pull a gun on a guy he had to shoot at somebody." Questioned further by the dispatcher, the unidentified caller said Apperson was standing by the side of the road nearby. "He's driving an Infinity. He said it was George Zimmerman."

Janet White,Apperson's mother, pleaded withSeminole County Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson to drop the verdict, casting the blame squarely onZimmerman.

"We will hold our collective breaths to see what outrageous acts he (Zimmerman) performs next," White told the judge during the hearing,The Orlando Sentinel reported. Apperson's wife, Lisa, also accused Zimmerman of beingthe instigator of the incident, claiming her husband's innocence.

Authorities have"given George Zimmerman a golden ticket to go out and do whatever he wants to do," Lisa Apperson told the judge, according totheSentinel.

This wasn't the first timeZimmerman and Apperson were allegedly involved in an incident together. Back in September 2014, the two men reportedly shouted at each other, withApperson claiming Zimmerman threatened to kill him during a confrontation in their vehicles.Apperson who called the authorities decided not to press charges.

Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman acquitted of second-degree murder after fatally shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, has had several brushes with the law since his controversial acquittal. In January 2015, Zimmerman was accused of assault by his then-girlfriend, who later recanted and decided not to file charges.

In September 2013, his estranged wife, Shellie, called authorities, claiming Zimmerman punched her father and was threatening her with a gun. She did not press charges.

Two months after the incident with his wife, Zimmerman was arrested and accused of domestic violence by girlfriend Samantha Scheibe. Scheibe later dropped the charges.

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Contributing:Greg Toppo from Tysons, Va.

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Fla. man sentenced 20 years for shooting George Zimmerman

A Florida man who fired a gun at George Zimmerman's vehicle during a road-rage confrontation was convicted Friday of attempted second-degree murder.

Jurors also found Matthew Apperson, 37, guilty of shooting into a vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm, local news organizations reported. He faces sentencing Oct. 17.

Apperson testified that he acted in self-defense last year. He said he fired at Zimmerman during the confrontation because Zimmerman flashed a gun.

Zimmerman testified earlier this week that he was driving to a doctor's appointment on May 11, 2015, when he noticed he was being pursued by a vehicle whose driver later pulled up, exchanged words and fired one gunshot at him that missed.

"I heard a bang and my ears started ringing," Zimmerman, 32, told the jury. The trial opened Tuesday in the Seminole County Courthouse.

Last year's confrontation was not the first encounter between Apperson and Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012. Apperson alleged in September 2014 that Zimmerman threatened him in a road-rage encounter but did not press charges at the time.

Apperson's attorney, Michael LaFay, said that Zimmerman was the aggressor and brandished a gun in both incidents, but prosecutor Stewart Stone said there was no way Apperson could have seen a gun through the tinted windows of Zimmerman's vehicle.

In the Martin case, Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was acquitted of charges in the shooting, a verdict that sparked protests and a national debate about race relations. Martin was black, and Zimmerman identifies as Hispanic.

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Driver who shot at George Zimmerman's vehicle convicted of ...

ORLANDO, Fla., - A Florida man was found guilty on Friday of attempted murder for shooting at George Zimmerman during a roadside confrontation with the ex-neighborhood watch captain widely known for killing unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, local media reported.

Matthew Apperson, 37, who according to prosecutors has a history of mental illness, was convicted in a jury trial in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Florida, according to accounts by theOrlando Sentinel newspaper and 24-hour Orlando television news channelNews 13.

A Sanford jury in 2013 acquitted Zimmerman, 32, of murder in the fatal 2012 shooting of 17-year-old Martin, a case that helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement and overshadowed both Appersons prosecution and his defense.

Police asserted in their arrest affidavit for Apperson that he seemed to have a fixation on Zimmerman, who claimed to have acted in self-defense when he shot Martin, a high school student walking through the community after stopping at a convenience store. Police initially declined to arrest Zimmerman, citing Floridas so-called Stand Your Ground law.

Appersons lawyer in turn questioned Zimmerman on the witness stand, getting Zimmerman to acknowledge that he had sold the gun used to shoot Martin for $250,000 and considers Black Lives Matter activists to be terrorists, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

In addition to second-degree attempted murder, Apperson was convicted on charges of shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm stemming from his altercation with Zimmerman in Lake Mary, Florida, according to the Sentinel.

Apperson has been in custody since July 2015, when Seminole County Circuit Judge Debra Nelson revoked his bond following a complaint that he urinated on his neighbors porch.

In that incident, Apperson was found guilty of disorderly conduct at trial in October 2015, and sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for time served, according to court records.

(Reporting by Barbara Liston in Orlando; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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George Zimmerman Shooter Convicted Of Attempted Murder In ...