A North Side gang member who lured his girlfriend to a friend’s basement so he and fellow gang members could rape her was sentenced Monday to 50 years in prison, while a participant in the rapes received a 40-year term.
Victor Garcia, 17, of 1807 N. Lawndale Ave., and Roger Wallace, 23, of 5805 N. Ridge Ave., were sentenced to 50- and 40-year terms, respectively, by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Edward Fiala Jr. for the June 2, 1992, attack on Garcia’s girlfriend.
“As rapes go, it was one of the most brutal ones I’ve ever seen,” said Assistant State’s Atty. Laura Morask, who prosecuted the men with Assistant State’s Atty. Jim McKay. “It looked like she had been beaten to a pulp.”
Morask said Garcia lured the 18-year-old victim to Wallace’s basement where he and male gang members played a drinking game that resulted in her getting drunk. Morask said Garcia took her into a bedroom and raped her before two of his friends took turns repeatedly raping and beating her.
Morask said that after raping the victim at gunpoint, Garcia and Wallace engaged in a tug of war with the woman’s belt wrapped around her neck in an effort to kill her. The woman lost consciousness but did not die, Morask said.
When she regained consciousness, the men threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the attack, Morask said.
A third man, Aaron O’Neal, 28, 751 W. Bittersweet Pl., faces sentencing Thursday.
