St. John Barned-Smith,
Posted: 12/03/2013 7:12 AM
A Silver Spring man faces a year and a half in jail after entering an Alford plea to rape and pleading guilty to second-degree assault charges Monday.
Ramon Omar Vasquez, 36, of Little Sorrel Way, had been charged in two separate cases — one which took place in November 2012, and one which took place in May 2013.
In an Alford plea, a defendant acknowledges overwhelming evidence of a crime but does not admit guilt.
The sentence came after a plea deal with prosecutors. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Paul Weinstein sentenced Vasquez to 12 years in prison for the crimes, but suspended all but 18 months. Vasquez waived the six months he has spent in jail already since his May arrest.
Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Herdman said in court that investigators had struggled with “evidentiary issues,” and had been unable to obtain DNA evidence and that some of the victims had memory issues because alcohol had been involved.