SALT LAKE CITY — The man convicted of raping a woman in Salt Lake County in 2008 and then faking his death and fleeing to another country, where he tried to assume a new identity, was sentenced on Monday to prison.

Nicholas Edward Rossi was sentenced to no less than five years and up to life in the Utah State Prison. Third District Judge Barry Lawrence said it will be up to the Board of Pardons and Parole to determine how long Rossi serves in prison, and he made no recommendation on giving him credit for the time he has been in custody since his arrest.

Despite his conviction and sentence, Nicholas Edward Rossi continued to deny that he did anything wrong,

“I am not guilty of this,” he told the court. “These women are lying.”

Rossi, 38, was convicted in August in 3rd District Court of

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