Providence Journal

A Utah judge sentenced alleged Rhode Island conman Nicholas Alahverdian , who was charged under the name Nicholas Rossi, to five years to life in prison for the rape of a 26-year-old Salt Lake County woman in 2008.

A jury in August convicted Alahverdian, 38, of first-degree felony rape .

Alahverdian's conviction stems from a charge that he raped his then-girlfriend, a woman whom he had met online. According to prosecutors, Alahverdian told the woman they should get married shortly after they began dating, and they purchased wedding rings.

Alahverdian soon became verbally and emotionally abusive, prosecutors say. An argument at Salt Lake City's Gateway Mall turned violent, and when the couple returned to Alahverdian's apartment, he refused to let the woman leave an

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