A Utah judge on Monday sentenced a man who appeared to fake his death and flee the United States to avoid arrest on rape charges to anywhere from five years to life in prison.
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Nicholas Rossi, 38, is “a serial abuser of women” and “the very definition of a flight risk”, District Judge Barry Lawrence said before handing down the sentence.
It was Rossi’s first of two sentencings after separate convictions in August and September of raping two women in northern Utah in 2008. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November in the second case.
Utah allows prison sentences to be given as a range rather than a set period of time. A parole board will determine if and when Rossi is released.
Five years to life is the entire range of possible prison time under Utah law for rape, a first-degree felony.
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Jurors found Rossi guilty of rape in August after a three-day trial in which his accuser and her parents each took the stand.