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Justin A. King reacts in Hampshire Superior Court Monday as he is sentenced to eight to 12 years in state prison for his role in the 2012 rape of a former University of Massachusetts Amherst student in her dorm room.

(Photo by / Greg Saulmon, courtesy of The Daily Hampshire Gazette)

NORTHAMPTON - Justin King, the second of four Pittsfield men to be tried after being charged with gang-raping a University of Massachusetts student, was sentenced to 8 to 12 years in prison Monday. The 21-year-old will be approaching 30 when he is eligible for parole.

A Hampshire Superior Court jury convicted King last week of three counts of forcible rape of the UMass freshman in her room at Pierpont dormitory in October of 2012. Emmanuel Bile, 21, another of the defendants, was tried and convicted in March and sentenced to 8 to 10 years.

The other two defendants, Adam Liccardi and Caleb Womack, both 20, have yet to be tried. Liccardi, who is scheduled to go to trial in July, was at the sentencing and appeared to cry as he was leaving the courtroom. According to prosecutors, the four defendants went to UMass with a bottle of strawberry vodka and were signed into Pierpont against the wishes of the defendant. The woman returned from a UMass hockey game and drank to the point of stupor before the men, left alone with her in her room, stripped off her clothes and took turns raping her.

King testified that the sex was consensual.

Prosecutor Jennifer Suhl, who asked for a sentence of 10 to 12 years, said it is difficult to imagine a worse crime against the victim.

"They stripped her plans for her future," she said, noting the student dropped out of UMass as she attempted to put her life back together. "This will forever affect her life... Even when she said 'Stop' they did not stop."

It took the victim more than a minute before she could begin reading her statement to Judge Bertha D. Josephson. She said the incident made her afraid to sleep or walk by herself.

"I thought Justin was my friend and that he'd never do anything to hurt me," she said. "But he treated me like an animal."

Defense lawyer Terrence Dunphy asked for a 4 to 6 year prison sentence, noting that his client has no prior criminal record.

The judge praised the victim or her courage. She has already had to testify twice and is scheduled to take the stand in two more trials. In handing down her sentence, Josephson said that the lives of everyone involved will be forever changed because of the incident.

"The victim is in no way responsible," she said.

In a brief press conference, First Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne deemed the sentence fair. He added that the victim is prepared to testify again.