A serial rapist who attacked three women in Douglas County and one in Burnett County was sentenced in a crowded Douglas County courtroom Friday to 25 years in prison and another 25 years of extended supervision.
Craig Allen Mehtala, 28, pleaded guilty in May to two counts of
second-degree sexual assault and no contest to a third. The charges stem from three sexual assaults in Superior's North End last summer.
"No sentence I'm going to mete out today will make the victims whole," said Judge Kelly Thimm. But, he said, the sentence recommended by assistant district attorney Lance Nelsen and defense attorney Chris Gramstrup was fair and reasonable. Mehtala will spend a total of 25 years in initial confinement, followed by the 25 years of extended supervision.
"You're going to be an old man when you get out of prison," Thimm told Mehtala.
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Other conditions of the sentence include registering as a sex offender, maintaining absolute sobriety, providing a DNA sample, complying with electronic GPS monitoring as well as any recommended assessments and treatments, undergoing a chemical dependency evaluation, paying restitution and having no contact with the victims.
Thimm could have imposed a higher sentence -- each count carries a maximum sentence of 40 years. But, he said, Mehtala's lack of criminal history and his decision to spare his victims from reliving the attacks in court by waiving all preliminary hearings and pleading to the charges weighed in his favor.
"If it went to trial and the victims had to testify, you would never be getting out. Period," Thimm said. "You'd be in for life."
In their statements to the court, the three women gave a glimpse into the impact of the attacks.
"I never considered myself a victim, nor will I," one woman wrote in a statement. "I was victimized." Yet the attack took a toll on her confidence, her sense of safety and her ability to do her job. It left her with nightmares.
"No one, absolutely no person should ever have to experience sexual assault," she said.
Another victim said her life was turned upside down when Mehtala attacked her on the front steps of her home as she was carrying a bag of groceries.
"I don't know if this nightmare is ever going to end," she told the court. She changed her locks, bought a new phone with a 911 button and purchased pepper spray. Recently, she decided to buy a new home because her front steps were a constant reminder of the attack.
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"You have taken my freedom from me," she told her attacker.
Mehtala spoke to the court before sentencing. He cited a history of alcohol and drug abuse and said he was sorry for causing his victims any kind of pain.
Gramstrup argued that premeditation was not part of the attacks, but Thimm disagreed.
"I frankly don't buy that these are random acts," he said. Mehtala followed and tracked the women with the intent of assaulting them, Thimm said.
Nelsen gave credit to Superior police Officers Nick Eastman and Greg Swanson for their fast response to the third sexual assault, and to Det. Bill Braman for his role in forming the theory that these were serial attacks.
Mehtala pleaded guilty in Burnett County Court in May to one count of second-degree sexual assault stemming from a 2006 attack. A count of battery was dismissed but considered for sentencing.
Mehtala will remain in the Douglas County Jail until he is sentenced in Burnett County next month. Gramstrup expects to present a joint recommendation for a 33-year sentence in that case -- eight years in initial confinement followed by 25 years of extended supervision -- to run concurrent with the Douglas County sentence.
