Andrew Milligan/PA WireA US man who faked his loss of life and fled to Scotland after being accused of rape has been jailed for at the least 5 years.
Nicholas Rossi, 38, of Rhode Island, was convicted in separate trials in August and September of raping two ladies in Utah in 2008.
On Monday, a choose in Salt Lake Metropolis sentenced him to 5 years to life for the primary conviction. He is because of be sentenced for the second conviction subsequent month.
Earlier than sentencing, Choose Barry G Lawrence described Rossi as a “serial abuser of ladies” and mentioned he was the “very definition of a flight threat”.
“He fled the nation to keep away from investigation. He took on an alias and, even in response to this case, refused to confess who he was,” the choose mentioned.
An internet obituary posted in February 2020 mentioned Rossi, who was born Nicholas Alahverdian, had died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
He then got here to wider consideration in December 2021 when he was arrested on the Covid ward of a Glasgow hospital. Workers recognised his mugshot and distinctive tattoos from an Interpol wished discover.
Rossi claimed that his title was Arthur Knight – an Irish-born orphan who had by no means been to the US.
He made a collection of weird courtroom appearances in Scotland – in a wheelchair, carrying a three-piece swimsuit and an oxygen masks, sustaining his declare of mistaken identification.
He was extradited to the US in January 2024 and placed on trial in Utah for 2 separate prices of rape.
The saga from Glasgow to Salt Lake Metropolis was documented within the BBC’s Strange But True Crime podcast.
Utah has an indeterminate sentencing, that means it’s given in a variety of years relatively than a hard and fast quantity. The choose mentioned it was as much as the state’s board of pardons and parole to find out how lengthy he must be jailed.
Shortly earlier than sentencing, one sufferer mentioned Rossi had left a “path of worry, ache and destruction” behind him.
“This isn’t a plea for vengeance. It is a plea for security and accountability, for recognition of the injury that can by no means totally heal,” she mentioned.
Rossi maintained his debunked claims of mistaken identification – which have been disproved by DNA and matching tattoos – throughout his courtroom look on Monday.
“I’m not responsible of this,” he informed the courtroom earlier than being sentenced. “These ladies are mendacity, and in the end, we are going to lodge an attraction.”
