TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A man who claimed he fatally shot another Tucson resident in self-defense has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for second-degree murder.

That was the maximum sentence David Rene Garcia could have received Friday in Pima County Superior Court. He plans to appeal his conviction.

Garcia, 37, and Alexis Samaniego were at a Tucson bar on Dec. 4, 2004, when authorities said Garcia invited Samaniego and another man back to an apartment complex to drink beer and use drugs.

Samaniego and Garcia began arguing and Samaniego knocked over a tall hat rack made out of horseshoes, prosecutors said.

Garcia reportedly drew his weapon and pulled the trigger 11 times, hitting the 23-year-old Samaniego 10 times.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Mark Diebolt told jurors the autopsy showed many of the shots were fired while Samaniego was on the ground and one of them severed his spine, rendering him helpless.

Assistant Pima County Public Defender Anthony Payson argued that Samaniego was in a drunken rage that night and that Garcia acted in self-defense.

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Information from: Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com

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