Roosevelt man gets 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to Freeport rape

A Roosevelt man was sentenced to 20 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release for attacking a Freeport woman last fall when he knocked her unconscious before raping her on her front lawn, prosecutors said.

Ever Martinez-Reyes, 25, will also be supervised for 20 years after completing his time in prison, according to a statement from Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

Judge Teresa Corrigan sentenced Martinez-Reyes on Thursday in Mineola’s criminal courthouse. He previously pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and four counts of second-degree assault, officials said.

“This defendant showed no mercy when he brutally attacked and sexually assaulted a woman just steps from her front door,” Singas said in the statement. “After an extensive manhunt by our law enforcement partners this defendant was arrested and thanks to my prosecutors this predator will now spend the next 20 years of his life behind bars.”

Martinez-Reyes "can only hope for forgiveness one day," his attorney Joseph LoPiccolo said Thursday night. "He showed remorse and prayed that God would help him and the victim get through each of their paths moving forward. He accepts full responsibility for his actions and will accept his penalty," LoPiccolo said.

Prosecutors said Martinez-Reyes assaulted the woman on Sept. 28, 2018.

Martinez-Reyes is from El Salvador and officials have said he was in the country illegally.

On the day of the 2 a.m. attack last year, authorities said he followed the woman, then 36, knocked her unconscious and dragged her to her front lawn where he repeatedly kicked and punched her in the face before sexually assaulting her. The victim woke up during the assault and Martinez-Reyes ran off, officials said.

The attack was captured on video surveillance. Police arrested Martinez-Reyes a week later. He did not know the woman he attacked, officials said.