Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Ex-Cop Michael Pena Sentenced to 10 Years to Life on Rape Charges

NYPD officer Michael Pena sits at the defense table in Manhattan Supreme Court during his indictment arraignment, Sept. 21, 2011.
NYPD officer Michael Pena sits at the defense table in Manhattan Supreme Court during his indictment arraignment, Sept. 21, 2011.
View Full Caption
Marc Hermann

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Disgraced former NYPD officer Michael Pena — who was sentenced to 75 years to life for sexually assaulting a woman at gunpoint — was sentenced to 10 years to life Monday for rape charges related to the violent attack.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers told the court Monday that he approved the sentence, which was part of a plea deal, "to spare the victim from having to confront her tormentor yet again."

In June, Pena pleaded guilty to additional counts of rape and sexual assault — charges a jury that had convicted him of sexual assault deadlocked on in March.

 Pena, who declined to comment at his sentencing on Monday, will not serve any additional time as a result of the rape sentencing.

Pena's lawyer, Efraim Savitt, had said his client decided to accept the plea deal because the district attorney's office was planning on pursuing a new trial on the rape charges and Pena didn't want to put his own family through an additional criminal trial.

Pena was sentenced to 75 years to life after jurors convicted him of grabbing the 25-year-old teacher off the street and sexually assaulting her in an Inwood alley. Pena's lawyer has said they will appeal the assault conviction.

He had been found guilty on three counts of predatory sexual assault for the August 2011 attack, but the jury couldn't reach a decision on rape charges because there were questions about whether he penetrated the victim, leading to a mistrial on those counts.



As part of the plea deal on the outstanding charges, Pena pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in the first degree, as well as two counts of predatory sexual assault—which stemmed from his use of a gun during the attack