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'Don Vito' collapses, yelling 'kill me now' after 2nd guilty verdict

DENVER – A jury on Wednesday found Vincent Margera, who plays "Don Vito" on MTV's "Viva La Bam" guilty of two counts of sexual assault on a child and acquitted him on one count.

Margera was accused of fondling three girls during a public appearance at a mall in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. The victims he was convicted of sexually assaulting were 12 and 13 years old.

He is set to be sentenced on December 20.

After the verdict was read he collapsed onto the floor and yelled "just kill me now."

Pam Russell of the Jefferson County District Attorney's office says the way Margera fell caused him to push some of the court's furniture around.

"He fell hard enough, that everyone -court security, deputies -rushed over to see, to make sure he was alright, cause they weren't certain if he fainted, they wanted to check on his safety," said Russell. "Then he began to flail, move his arms and legs and yell statements, just in general to the court, that sort of thing, about his guilt or innocence . . . angry statements, including some expletives."

Russell says Margera made some statements about not being able to feel his feet or move, so medical services were called.

"That again caused him to make some loud statements, as if he was aware what was going on in the courtroom to some degree, said Russell. "Then the judge quickly pulled the jurors, tried to get them out of the courtroom, because this had not stopped at this point, it was still escalating. Mr. Margera was still agitated, yelling and moving around, the deputies continuing to trying to stop him."

A wheelchair was brought up to the courtroom, but it was not needed. Jefferson County deputies restrained Margera and then took him to jail, escorting him from the courtroom.

In Colorado, sex offenders can only be sentenced to probation for a minimum of 10 years, or an indeterminate life sentence. They can only be paroled from the indeterminate life sentence by the Colorado Parole Board. However, 9NEWS has obtained statistics that show of the nearly 1,000 people sentenced for felony sex offenses since 1998, only three have been paroled.

One person close to the investigation who wished to remain anonymous told 9NEWS: "If Margera does go to prison, it's for life. The jury said what he did was wrong. Should he be punished? Yes. But life in prison for what he did? No."

Margera will also have to register as a sex offender where he lives and undergo sex offender treatment.

He also faces 12 felony counts for allegedly violating his bail conditions. Those conditions included having no contact with children under 18, consuming no drugs or alcohol and providing detailed information on business travel plans.

Defense attorney Pamela Mackey had said Margera was in character during the public appearance, playing the outrageous uncle from the TV show.

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