ST. LOUIS - A man convicted of shooting two St. Louis police faced a judge Friday in a downtown courtroom to learn his fate.

Cortez Darrell Sipes, 38, pleaded guilty to shooting St Louis officers Sean Miskovic and Lucas Roethlisberger, in addition to charges of resisting arrest and drug trafficking. The charges date back to a Feb. 2, 2023 incident in St. Louis' Soulard neighborhood.

On Friday, Sipes told the judge he was sorry for committing the crimes and then the judge handed down his sentence. He was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore, speaking after the sentencing hearing, emphasized that justice was served.

"When people harm police officers, or attempt to harm police officers in the line of duty, that's something that we obviously are going to treat very seriously," said Gore. "We are going to prosecute those cases aggressively, and we are going to hold them accountable and that's what you saw today."

The incident was captured on police dashcam and bodycam footage.

Investigators say the officers tried to stop Sipes late in the evening of Feb. 2 before he led them on a high-speed chase. That ended in a crash into Soulard Farmers' Market.

Sipes then jumped out of his car and opened fire. Both officers were seriously wounded, but managed to arrest Sipes. The weapon Sipes fired was an untraceable "ghost" gun with an extended magazine.

"It's every chief's nightmare to hear that two officers had been shot, and thank God both pulled through on this," said St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy.

During court proceedings, one of the officers handed Sipes a bible and told Sipes that he is praying for him and he forgives him.

"It also shows that these officers put their lives on the line everyday, and they are risking their lives to keep this city safe," said Tracy.