Nicholas Rossi, a 38-year-old American who faked his own death and fled to Scotland to evade justice, has been sentenced to at least five years in prison for rape. The sentence, handed down on Monday by District Judge Barry Lawrence in Utah, is the first of two he faces after being convicted of raping two women in 2008.
Rossi, who also goes by the name Nicholas Alahverdian, was convicted in August of raping a woman he met through a personal ad on Craigslist. The victim, who was recovering from a traumatic brain injury at the time, testified that Rossi became hostile after their engagement and raped her in his bedroom. She went to police years later after learning of another rape allegation against him.
In a statement to the court, the victim said Rossi left a 'trail of fear, pain and destruction' and called for 'safety and accountability.' Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Brandon Simmons argued that Rossi 'uses rape to control women' and poses a risk to community safety. Rossi, who did not testify at his trial, maintained his innocence, saying, 'I am not guilty of this. These women are lying.'
The case took over a decade to reach court. Rossi was identified as a suspect in 2018 through a DNA rape kit from the second case, part of Utah's effort to clear its backlog of untested kits. Months after being charged, an online obituary claimed he died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma on 29 February 2020, but police, his former lawyer, and a former foster family doubted his death. He was arrested in Scotland in 2021 after hospital staff recognised his tattoos from an Interpol notice, and was extradited to Utah in January 2024 after a lengthy legal battle.
Rossi was convicted of the second rape in September, with sentencing scheduled for 4 November. He also faces fraud charges in Ohio and was wanted in Rhode Island for failing to register as a sex offender. Under Utah's indeterminate sentencing system, the board of pardons and parole will determine his actual release date, which could be life in prison.
