Man who bites part of a persons nose off will not serve time behind bars

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- A man who bit someone's nose off in a bar fight last year will not see any time in prison. 

Cornelius Ellis was sentenced today after claiming he did it out of self-defense. 

On Thursday, the judge sentenced Ellis to five years of probation for felony menacing. He'll also have to pay 18,000 dollars all of which will go towards the victim's medical bills. 

Back in 2023, Ellis walked into the Antiques Billiards Hall after supposedly forgetting his phone. But the bartenders asked for someone to escort him out because of an earlier conflict.

Thats when the victim, Jose Verduzco Gonzalez took matters into his own hands. Throwing Ellis onto the ground and after Ellis constantly tased Gonzalez several times, he then bit off part of his nose. 

On Thursday, his attorney said this was all an act of self-defense because Ellis couldn't get out from under him, adding that Ellis suffers from Piriformis Syndrome, a condition that causes him sciatic nerve pain.

"He was an individual who was confronted by an enraged person who got him on the ground, began to headbutt him, had pinned his arms underneath him, had ignored continued attempts by Mr. Ellis to tase him," said Mark Hanchey, Colorado Springs Attorney. "Mr. Ellis ultimately resorted to the defense that he had available to him, and that was biting him during one of those headbutts."

Ellis's attorney said he considers this sentence a win for his client, and that his client will report to his probation officer tomorrow.