(CNN)A court in San Marino has fined Italian professional cyclist Antonio Tiberi 4,000 euros (around $4,250) after he pleaded guilty to shooting a cat belonging to the tiny republic's minister of tourism, Federico Pedini Amati, a court spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
Tiberi, an Italian who lives in San Marino, also risks losing his residency status after the conviction.
He admitted to testing out an air rifle he purchased last June by aiming at the head of the cat belonging to his neighbor, Amati, according to the court. The cat immediately died in the incident.
The 21-year-old Tiberi, who won a time trial bronze at the Junior European Road Championships in 2018 and a time trial gold at the Junior Road World Championships in 2019, apologized for the incident on Twitter.
"I deeply regret my shameful actions," he wrote in a statement.
"I did something tremendously stupid and irresponsible, the seriousness and danger of which I realized only after the act. I don't want to make excuses."
Tiberi added that he would donate his prize money from this season's winnings to animal welfare organizations in San Marino, as well as volunteering with those organizations in person.