A 45-year-old Queens man was sentenced yesterday to 16 years in prison for grabbing a woman off the street, forcing her into an alley and raping her.
Santiago Lugo, busted after submitting DNA in an unrelated case, had been convicted last month in Queens Supreme Court.
Defense lawyer Sandra Perez argued that Lugo and the woman, then 23, had consensual sex on March 3, 1999, in Jamaica.
But prosecutor Eric Rosenbaum said Lugo pressed a hard object into the woman’s back and threatened to hurt her if she didn’t cooperate. The woman testified against Lugo but chose not to show up for the sentencing, Rosenbaum said, adding that there continues to be “fallout from what this man did.”
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said, “hopefully knowing that he will now be behind bars for a long time will provide her with a small measure of help in overcoming the trauma that she experienced.”