Ferguson Township man receives prison sentence for rape conviction
A Ferguson Township man convicted of breaking into a woman’s townhouse and raping her was sentenced Tuesday to at least 8 1/2 years in state prison.
Nnaemeka Ani, 25, was also sentenced by Centre County Judge Brian Marshall to three years of probation. His maximum prison sentence is 17 years. He received credit for 497 days served.
Ani must also register as a tier three sex offender for the rest of his life.
“He is dangerous,” Centre County Assistant District Attorney Megan McGoron told Marshall.
Ani was found guilty in September of all charges at the end of a four-day trial. He was convicted of two felony counts of aggravated indecent assault, one felony count each of rape, sexual assault and criminal trespassing and two misdemeanor counts of indecent assault.
The former Penn State student broke into the woman’s room and raped her about 3 a.m. in October 2017. DNA collected during the yearlong Ferguson Township police investigation matched Ani.
McGoron pushed for a 10- to 20-year state prison sentence, writing in a six-page memo that Ani has shown a “complete disregard” for the law and “continues to take zero responsibility for his actions.”
Centre County Assistant Public Defender Elizabeth Ramos argued for a 1 1/2- to two-year county jail sentence, largely because of “substantial hurdles and trauma” Ani experienced while growing up in Nigeria.
He and his family were robbed at gunpoint; he was forced to wait in a “cage” for hours to be picked up for school; and he was assaulted by fellow middle school students, Ramos wrote in an 11-page memo.
“He remains close to his family and wishes to be able to help them out in whatever way he can upon his release,” Ramos wrote.
Ani remains accused of breaking into several other Ferguson Township and State College buildings.