Fugitive finally sentenced in rape

A New Jersey man convicted of first-degree rape and sexual abuse in Nassau County almost 30 years ago will finally serve time for his crime.

Nassau County Court Judge George Peck sentenced Rudy Carter, 65, of Roselle, N.J., to two to six years in prison Tuesday.

Carter, who came to court in a wheelchair, skipped town the day before a jury convicted him on April 7, 1981, on charges that he had raped a Lakeview woman in her home in 1979.

Carter was arrested in Elizabeth, N.J., on March 4, 2010 and brought back to Nassau.

Investigator William Walsh of District Attorney Kathleen Rice's office cracked the case when he obtained motor vehicle records on Carter during a a separate narcotics case. Nassau Det. Joseph Maher, assigned to the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, found Carter at a hotel by tapping cell phone towers.

"After 30 years on the run, this defendant will finally serve his punishment for this terrible crime," Rice said. "It was the tenacity, skill, and dedication of our Nassau County and federal law enforcement agencies that resulted in this cold case being brought to resolution."

Assistant District Attorney Joseph LaRocca of the Special Victims Bureau handled the case after Carter's return. Attorney Dennis O'Brien, who represented Carter, had no comment.