A man convicted of clubbing a close friend in the head says he’s sorry, that he doesn’t remember the incident, and says it was his return to St. Joe that returned him to his earlier alcohol and drug problem. A judge on Thursday ordered Lawrence Lake to serve seven years in prison.

On March 28, Lake was convicted by a jury on a charge of second-degree assault, a class-c felony. He was convicted of beating his friend over the head with what was first described by police to be a pipe, but turned out to have been a large stick.

Witnesses said Lake attacked Randal Riley on August 27, 2016, knocking him unconscious and causing serious head injuries. Lake told the judge that he still considers Riley a close friend. He said his life has been “a long patten of ups and downs and ups and downs and ups and downs.”

“I have no doubt alcohol is the problem,” he said. “I regret what happened but I don’t remember it.”

The victim suffered a serious head gash in the attack.

During a sentencing hearing Thursday, Judge Daniel Kellogg told Lake that “at best” he was a “careless drunk,” and “at worst a mean drunk.” He ordered a seven year prison term to include a long-term treatment program.