(STMW) — The sentencing hearing was not going particularly well for Steven Zamiar.

A lawyer for the former Midlothian cop who viciously beat a bar patron with a metal baton in November 2011 called a Cook County prosecutor to speak on Zamiar’s behalf. The prosecutor said, though, among other things, that Zamiar had a reputation for having a “mean” streak, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

And when Ralph Meczyk, Zamiar’s lawyer, argued that, across America, it’s a tough time to be cop, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, responded: “If officers are doing what they are supposed to . . . these prosecutions won’t be brought.”

But then Coleman read part of the letter from Zamiar’s victim, James Snyder, in which he said he didn’t see the need to “ruin” his attacker’s life.

“It’s not like he shot me,” Snyder wrote.

That explains, in part, how Zamiar, 48, ended up with a 15-month prison term, even though prosecutors asked for a 6 1/2-year minimum.

“You crossed the line from being a trusted authority figure to being an officer out of control,” Coleman told Zamiar just before she handed down the sentence.

But Coleman said that while Zamiar’s actions were “inappropriate and unreasonable,” the prosecution’s outrage didn’t match the victim’s.

Moments after the sentencing, Zamiar’s wife of 21 years, Jeanine Zamiar, could be seen smiling and hugging family members outside the courtroom.

Prosecutors described Zamiar as power hungry and arrogant the night he beat Snyder, who suffered welts and bruises across his back, head and neck. At the time, Zamiar was in plain clothes, working surveillance, when he came upon Snyder in a bar parking lot. Snyder had done nothing wrong but ran back toward the bar when Zamiar lunged at him with a baton, prosecutors say. That’s when Zamiar chased Snyder and repeatedly beat him, prosecutors say. Snyder tried to hide behind other police officers on the scene. Zamiar told those officers to “arrest this ass—-,” prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Otlewski on Friday described Zamiar as a “bad apple,” who thought he was above the law. Otlewski said Zamiar’s behavior wasn’t isolated, that he’d used excessive force before in his career.

“What about the hundreds of career criminals . . . that he took off the street,” Meczyk said in response, before barking in mock disbelief: “That bad apple!”

Several current and retired police officers spoke on Zamiar’s behalf, calling him a dedicated officer who stepped up to the plate without having to be asked.

Speaking at his sentencing, a tearful Zamiar said: “I’m sorry to the Village [of Midlothian], to the police department, to the officers who stood up here for me, to James Snyder for any suffering he went through. I never meant to hurt him.”

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)