Rosario gets 63-year prison term for Dec. '13 incident

A Topeka resident was sentenced on Friday to 775 months impris­onment for what Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller called “the worst crime I have ever prose­cuted” — the December 2013 rape and attempted murder of a Holton woman.

Jackson County District Court Judge Micheal Ireland confirmed Miller’s sentencing recommenda­tion for 36-year-old Chase Rosario, found guilty of six charges stem­ming from the incident following a jury trial in late March and early April. The sentence, minus 510 days of time already served in jail, means Rosario will spend more than 63 years in prison.

Rosario received sentences of 620 months and 155 months on separate charges of aggravated criminal sodomy, 155 months each on charges of rape and aggravated kidnapping, 41 months on a charge of aggravated battery and six months on a charge of criminal threat. The criminal sodomy charge sentences will run consecutively, Ireland said, with all other sen­tences to run concurrent to them.

The charges against Rosario stemmed from an incident that re­portedly occurred overnight on Dec. 19 and 20, 2013, in the home of a Holton woman who had re­portedly been in a romantic rela­tionship with Rosario for about three months. The woman testified that at the time of the incident, Ro­sario became violent after getting “paranoid” in his accusations of infidelity against her.

The April 1 verdict came after a trial in which Evans rested Ro­sario’s case with no testimony in court from the defendant or any other witnesses. On Friday, Rosario made his first public comment in court, saying that he did not receive a fair trial because he believed nearly three-quarters of Jackson County’s population perceived him as guilty.

Ireland disagreed, saying that the results of a change-of-venue study — which he said cost the state roughly $10,000 — showed that no change of venue was necessary and that Rosario did in fact receive a fair trial. He also denied a motion from Evans for downward dura­tional departure in Rosario’s sen­tencing.

While making recommendations for Rosario’s overall sentence — which she said was based on stan­dard sentencing guidelines — Miller portrayed Rosario as “one of the most violent people I have ever encountered.” She also gave Ire­land a list of Rosario’s previous convictions of violent crimes in Shawnee County to further illus­trate her point, over Evans’ objec­tion, and asked Ireland to make sure that Rosario is never released on parole.

“He should never be allowed to see the light of day,” Miller said of Rosario.

However, Evans expressed con­cern over the length of the pro­posed sentence, asking Ireland to refrain from “giving him (Rosario) more time than he could possibly serve.”

“He’s going to be down there for decades,” Evans said of Rosario. “The public’s not going to need protection from him when he’s in his 70s.”

Also testifying on Rosario’s be­half was his grandmother, Betty Glenn of Topeka, who told Ireland that Rosario did not “do everything the way it was portrayed” by Miller and Rosario’s reported victim, who was present for Friday’s sentencing hearing but did not comment.

“He really isn’t the demon that he’s been depicted to be,” Glenn said. “I don’t know where a lot of the stuff he’s been accused of is coming from.”

Glenn also alleged that the vic­tim had a significant role in the De­cember 2013 incident, saying that Rosario did not have the money or the vehicle to purchase the drugs that reportedly played a role in the incident, but the victim did. Ireland questioned the latter statement, asking Glenn whether the victim was “the one who made him abuse” drugs.

Following the sentencing, Evans immediately filed a motion to ap­peal the sentence and asked Ireland to consider sending Rosario to a prison near Larned where he could get treatment for certain “special needs.” Ireland recommended that Rosario be given an evaluation to see “if the Larned prison is the best place for him.”

Miller said Rosario’s prison sentence could be reduced by 15 percent for good behavior, meaning he could be released in 54 years. Ireland’s sentencing included a 36- month post-release supervision pe­riod.