Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

A 23-year-old Spring Valley man who raped his wife and stapled her skin in a jealous rage over her supposed relationship with another man was sentenced to seven years in state prison on Wednesday.

Mario Montufar-Tez attacked his wife on June 30 after seeing text messages on her cellphone implying a sexual relationship with another man, his attorney said after the sentencing in the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.

Rockland prosecutor John McGowan sought 18 years in prison for Montufar-Tez, who is from Guatemala and living in the U.S. illegally.

State Supreme Court Justice William Kelly opted for a sentence of seven years in prison and 10 years of post-release supervision. Montufar-Tez would face deportation after his prison term ends.

McGowan read a letter from Montufar-Tez's wife before the sentencing. She addressed her letter to "Mario" and described how he psychologically and physically abused her, saying he first "disrespected" her when she was pregnant.

The couple has two children living with family in Guatemala.

"So you remember when we got married and we made a promise in front of God that we will take care of each other," she wrote. "(I gave you my life and you ruined it.) You start mistreating me. You hurt my heart and my mind, and my body."

Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Montufar-Tez deserved a longer sentence based on the "horrific" violence against his wife.

"This was a brutal, vicious attack," Zugibe said. "He raped her and stapled her skin. He inserted an object into her. This guy is a complete animal."

The nine-count indictment charged Montufar-Tez with first-degree rape, first-degree criminal sex act, first-degree aggravated sexual abuse, two counts of second-degree assault, and counts of first-degree unlawful imprisonment, third-degree assault and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation.

"He went into a jealous rage," Montufar-Tez's lawyer, Kenneth Gribetz, said. "He believed his wife was having an affair. We're not justifying what he did. We asked the judge to view the totality of the man's life."

The woman's statement read by the prosecutor John McGowan during Mario Montufar-Tez's sentencing by Supreme Court Justice William Kelly at the Rockland County Courthouse in New City:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1156011-letter-from-victim.html