A Hyde Park man acquitted of murder was sentenced to the maximum penalty for possessing a firearm in the vicinity of a fatal 2008 shootout, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano sentenced KEVIN LOUIS (D.O.B. 7/2/87) to four years and 11 months to five years in state prison, the term recommended by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Mulhern following Louis’ conviction Tuesday for unlawful possession of a firearm.

Gaziano also sentenced Louis to an additional term of two and a half years in a house of correction for his conviction for unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm, ordering that term suspended for three years to begin upon his release.

Under Massachusetts law, Louis’ conviction for unlawful possession of ammunition was dismissed as duplicative of the loaded firearm conviction.

During that three-year probationary term, Louis must stay away from the family of Roniel Marc, the 17-year-old youth shot to death amid a gun battle that erupted on July 4, 2008, at a cookout he and Louis attended. Louis must also stay away from other individuals identified as having been at the cookout as well as the area in which it took place. That area includes Wood Avenue, Edwardson Street, Lewiston Street, and Ayles Road.

If Louis complies with those orders upon his release from prison and does not reoffend, he will not serve additional jail time. If he violates the conditions or reoffends, he could face re-sentencing by Judge Gaziano, who retained jurisdiction of Louis’ case.

Jurors who convicted Louis of the gun charges also acquitted him of second-degree murder. Though he was not alleged to have fired the fatal shot, Louis was charged with Marc’s death under the same theory used to convict MANUEL ANDRADE for the 2007 homicide of Chiara Levin in Dorchester – that he took part in a shootout in a public place and was responsible for the death that ensued as a result.

“Where the defendant chooses to engage in a gun battle with another with the intent to kill or do grievous bodily harm and a third party is killed, the defendant may be held liable for the homicide even if it was the defendant’s opponent who fired the fatal shot,” the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts wrote in its 1997 decision in Commonwealth v. Felix Santiago.

Jennifer Sears was the DA’s victim-witness advocate assigned to the case. Louis was represented by attorney Christopher Belezos.