VICTIM ENDS “LONG AND DIFFICULT JOURNEY” AS SOSA GETS 35 TO 40 March 13, 2008 Convicted yesterday of a brutal attack on a Jamaica Plain woman more than a dozen years ago, a violent serial rapist today drew a 35- to 40-year sentence that will begin upon completion of the lengthy state prison term he is serving for violent offenses in another jurisdiction, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced. CHE BLAKE SOSA, 38 (D.O.B. 7/22/69), could remain behind bars until the year 2102 given the sentence imposed this morning by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christine McEvoy, who ordered that it begin only upon completion of the consecutive 30- to 40- and 10- to 15-year terms he is serving after convictions in Norfolk County. “Again and again, Che Sosa has proven himself to be unrepentantly violent,” Conley said. “He has no place in our society. Judge McEvoy’s sentence on these offenses is every bit as harsh as he deserves.” A Suffolk Superior Court jury yesterday convicted Sosa of two counts of aggravated rape for climbing through a 50-year-old Jamaica Plain woman’s home as she slept in the early morning hours of Aug. 22, 1995. He beat her badly, broke her jaw, and raped her repeatedly. Throughout the assault, the evidence showed, he threatened to kill her if she looked at him. “Seeing Che Sosa convicted and put behind bars has renewed my spirit in ways I never expected,” the woman wrote in a statement read to the court by First Assistant District Attorney Josh Wall, who prosecuted the case. The woman thanked police, prosecutors, the judge, and the jury “for closing the door to this long and difficult personal journey.” McEvoy, who called the attack “a horrendous experience and a horrifying violation of her safety and the sanctity of her home,” commended the woman for her bravery in coming forward and her strength in testifying. “I hope this helps you get to the other side,” McEvoy said. Biological evidence was recovered from the victim’s undergarments shortly after she called police and was taken to an area hospital. Additional evidence was recovered from the sheets of her bed, where the attack took place. Because DNA was not commonly used in Massachusetts courts at the time, those items were delivered to the Boston Police Crime Laboratory and stored under laboratory conditions until 2003, when they were analyzed as part of a scientific examination of unsolved rapes. Boston Police criminalists developed DNA profiles of the semen stains on the victim’s clothing and bedding. Each profile matched the others. When those identical profiles were submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System database, they matched the profile of a known offender – Sosa, who was being held on an unrelated violent offense in Norfolk County. To confirm their findings, investigators obtained a second sample of Soda’s DNA in an oral swab and checked it against the crime scene evidence. It, too, was a match. Boston Police criminalists testified at trial that the DNA profile was unique to one in one quintillion people. A panel of 16 jurors heard opening statements on March 3, followed by four full days of testimony from eight prosecution witnesses and a single defense witness – the defendant himself. They heard closing arguments Friday morning and 12 deliberating jurors began to weigh the evidence later that day. They continued until about 3:15 yesterday. Sosa, represented by Brockton defense attorney Joseph Krowski, read from a statement before being sentenced in which he said McEvoy “couldn’t have been more fair.” He also thanked Chief Court Officer Juan De Los Santos for treating him with dignity and respect throughout the proceedings, during which he was handcuffed and chained to a specially-designed chair because of his violent attacks on jail guards and a former attorney. “It’s karma, baby,” Sosa said as he was led out of the courtroom by a phalanx of court officers and Department of Corrections personnel. “It’s karma.” Return to the Press Releases page.