Man is sentenced to 28 years in 2015 rape
Defendant ‘believed to be a serial offender,’ DA says
An accused serial rapist in Albuquerque will spend nearly three decades in prison for the rape of one woman at gunpoint in 2015.
State District Judge Cindy Leos on Thursday sentenced Nicolas Williams to 28 years in the New Mexico Corrections Department.
District Attorney Raúl Torrez called the sentence “great news for the community.”
“Williams is believed to be a serial offender and we’re happy he’s off of our streets for a long time,” Torrez said in a news release. “We care about these victims and receiving a fair sentencing today was justice served.”
In January 2020, a jury found Williams guilty of one count of kidnapping and three counts of criminal sexual penetration.
Lauren Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, said the jury only deliberated for about an hour after a five-day trial.
Williams was charged in at least three rapes over the past six years and Albuquerque police detectives had suspected he had committed others.
The case he was sentenced in stems from March 2015 when a woman told police she was working as a prostitute when Williams raped her repeatedly while holding a gun to her head.
The DNA evidence from the woman’s rape kit went untested for four years before coming back as a match for Williams. Detectives tracked down the woman and she picked Williams out of a lineup.
By that time, Williams had already been accused in two other rapes in 2018, including one that was dismissed by prosecutors when they weren’t able to reach the victim.