A man convicted of having sex with his girlfriend on a Florida beach in front of children was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Monday.

Jose Caballero, 40, and Elissa Alvarez, 21, were found guilty in May of two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior in a case that drew international attention for the couple's crude act.

The amorous pair were videotaped having intercourse on a Manatee County beach last summer in broad daylight. Witnesses testified that a 3-year-old girl saw them.

Punished: Jose Caballero, 40, was sentenced Monday to two-and-a-half years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for having sex on a public beach in Florida in front of families with children

Amorous pair: Caballero (left) and Elissa Alvarez (right), 21, were found guilty in May of two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior

Caballero told jurors that he and Alvarez were not having sex and that beachgoers were mistaken.

Jurors listened to graphic testimony from witnesses and saw a video of Alvarez moving on top of Caballero in a sexual manner in the middle of the day while others looked on.

‘We are grateful that the state has offered 2 1/2 years,’ said Ronald Kurpiers, defense attorney for Caballero.

The lawyer, however, labeled the decision to make his client and Alvarez register as sex offenders 'horrifically unfair.'

He said Caballero planned to appeal his case. Alvarez, who was recently sentenced to time served, filed an appeal in her case in June.

Prosecutors say they were tougher on Caballero because he previously served eight years for cocaine trafficking.

The Bradenton Herald reports the jury found them guilty after deliberating only 15 minutes. The couple had faced 15 years in prison.

Sticking by her man: Jose Caballero's family and friends, which includes girlfriend Elissa Alvarez (second right) who had sex on the beach with him, sit in a courtroom Monday as the 40-year-old was sentenced

Maintaining his innocence: Caballero, pictured in court Monday, told jurors that he and Alvarez were not having sex and that beachgoers were mistaken.

‘If you think about 2:30 in the afternoon on a crowded beach. It takes a certain type of person to do that in front of children a few feet away,’ said Assistant State Attorney Anthony Dafonseca.

Prosecutors said it was important that the community knew what wouldn't be tolerated on public beaches.

Alvarez, who is still dating Caballero, attended his sentencing Monday. She was photographed leaving the Manatee Judicial Center dressed in a short pink skirt and black top. The 21-year-old declined to make a statement to the press.

The Bradenton Herald reported in May that Elissa Alvarez accepted the state-recommended sentence during a hearing scheduled to discuss setting a sentencing date. Defense attorney Greg Hagopian said at the time she is embarrassed by the incident.

'To say that she's learned her lesson would be an understatement,' he told reporters outside the Bradenton courthouse. 'She never, ever intended for this to hurt anybody, for any children to be involved, and now she has to live with this for the rest of her life.'

Spared: Alvarez was sentenced May 27 (pictured) to time served for having sex with her boyfriend on a public beach in full view of a toddler last year

They didn't get a room: Alvarez, (right), and her 40-year-old boyfriend (left) were found guilty May 4 of having sex on a beach last summer in front of children

Caballero was handed a harsher sentence since he previously spent eight years in prison for cocaine trafficking. Pictured above in court May 4

It took a Manatee County jury about 15 minutes to find Alvarez and Caballero guilty of lewd and lascivious exhibition May 4.

Video played in the courtroom showed Alvarez moving on top of Caballero in a sexual manner in broad daylight while several other families spent the day on the beach July 20, 2014, among them a toddler and his great-grandmother, who grabbed her iPhone and began recording the pair.

Caballero spent eight years in prison for cocaine trafficking, while his girlfriend has no criminal record.

Throughout the case, the couple maintained that they were not having intercourse.

Family members, a Bradenton Beach Police Officer and even Caballero testified in court that Alvarez was just dancing on top of him, 'nudging' to keep him awake, and not actually engaging in intercourse.

'He's a great person,' Caballero's mother said outside of court after his conviction. 'There are other things out there we need to worry about, and they're still loose, people who have done worse stuff.'

The couple's defense attorney Ronald Kurpiers told the Bradenton Herald that the couple are 'devastated' by the decision.