ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A plea deal will keep a man out of jail even though he was accused of raping a woman impaired by sleeping pills. However, the deal still made 30-year-old Yehisson Acevedo cry in court Monday.
Acevedo was upset he has to register as a sex offender. He told the court sex offenders are garbage, but, in the end, he took the deal for raping the woman he met at an Orange County 7-Eleven.
ACEVEDO'S ARREST: Watch Video | See Images
Acevedo will be labeled a sex offender for 25 years.
From the day that Orlando police arrested Acevedo last July, he's been emotional.
"No, I'm not a rapist, this is not happening. She's lying!" he said, filled with emotion after his arrest.
Emotionally, Monday was no exception. Inside the Orange County court, Acevedo was in tears after he made the decision to take a plea deal that made him a convicted rapist.
"You understand all the consequences of going to trial and consequences of the plea deal, correct?" a judge asked Acevedo.
"Yes, your honor," he replied.
The 30-year-old was charged with raping an incapacitated woman he met at a 7-Eleven on Colonial Drive. The woman was on the prescription sleeping pill Ambien and had consumed an entire bottle of wine.
Acevedo pleaded "no contest" to a lesser charge, sexual battery without bodily harm, which is a crime that could have put him away for 15 years. Instead, the plea deal will give him just eight years of probation, but he will have to register as a sex offender.
"No justice is what I want to say," Acevedo told WFTV reporter Jeff Deal.
"Why did you agree to the plea deal?" Jeff Deal asked.
"Unless you're in my shoes, nobody would understand," he answered.
Prosecutors say the victim did not want to testify and was happy it didn't go to trial.
In court, while wrestling with the decision, Acevedo called sex offenders "garbage." But Monday, he walked out of court with that label hanging over his head.
"How do you feel about being a sex offender?" Jeff deal asked.
"How would you feel?" Acevedo replied.
Acevedo lives in New York now and will likely be allowed to transfer his probation up there. If he behaves, he could get early release from his probation in four years.
Previous Stories: April 12, 2010: Ambien Rape Suspect's Monitoring Bracelet To Be Removed March 2, 2010: Judge Denies Bond For Ambien Rape Suspect
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