A New York City man convicted of stabbing "The Bachelor" contestant Jessica Edwards’ ex-boyfriend during a bizarre 2021 confrontation at a Colorado bar was sentenced to five years in prison.
Carlos Vega Jr., 42, was convicted of second-degree assault and menacing in the July 11, 2021, incident at the Clock Tower Grill in Lone Tree. He will serve his sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a Wednesday news release.
Attorney information for Vega was not immediately available. Edwards did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The district attorney's press release states that Edwards was at the bar with her then-boyfriend, Jordan Hyder, when Vega’s girlfriend unexpectedly licked her face. Officials said Vega’s girlfriend did not personally know Edwards.
Edwards later appeared on Season 28 of ABC’s "The Bachelor," which aired in 2024, and won Season 10 of "Bachelor in Paradise," which aired its finale in September. She got engaged to former contestant Spencer Conley on the show.
Hyder and Vega exchanged words over the incident, and Hyder punched Vega, according to the district attorney's press release. Vega, who at the time had been recently released from a New York prison for manslaughter, pulled out a knife and stabbed Hyder in the hand, the office said.
During Vega's sentencing for the bar altercation, producers for Netflix allegedly sent letters in support of leniency. The district attorney’s office said Netflix had worked with Vega on a documentary. Still, the judge decided to impose a prison sentence due to Vega’s violent criminal past.
"Vega had just done time in New York City and obviously didn’t learn his lesson. He now has several years in prison to think about the consequences of his actions," Senior Deputy District Attorney Nate Marsh said in a statement.
Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
