A former Maryland policeman who shot a handcuffed, unarmed suspect in the back will spend five years in prison, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors were disappointed with the sentence Johnnie Riley received in Prince George's County Circuit Court.

They accused the 44-year-old of shooting Kalvin Kyle in September 2012 as the latter got out of a police cruiser and tried to flee, the news service detailed. Kyle had been pulled over on suspicion of driving a stolen motorcycle. The policeman's attack left the man paralyzed from the waist down.

Riley had been convicted in July 2014 of first- and second-degree assault, use of a handgun during the commission of a crime of violence, and misconduct as an officer, said News 4, the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. The jury acquitted him of attempted second-degree murder, and a judge dismissed an attempted first-degree murder charge against him, the AP added.

"Mr. Riley shot Mr. Kyle in the back, while he was handcuffed and had already been searched and deemed not a threat multiple times," State's attorney Angela Alsobrooks said. "For Mr. Riley to only receive a five-year sentence for this sends the wrong message to our community."

The Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office later tweeted: "SA Alsobrooks: We respectfully disagree with sentence of 5 yrs for Johnnie Riley." Riley's attorney, Allen Wolfe, meanwhile, didn't immediately return a call for comment, the AP noted.

The five-year sentence was mandatory because of the handgun charge, News4 explained. Riley must also serve five years of supervised probation and some 2,000 hours of community service, the network added.

Riley had previously served in the U.S. military in Iraq. He was scheduled to be sentenced in September, but his hearing was delayed when he attacked prosecutors in court, apparently upset because they suggested he should be held to a higher standard because of his military background, the AP said. Sheriff's deputies had to subdue him in the incident, for which he spent 30 days in jail, News4 added.