The man accused of raping a jogger in West Hartford is expected to be sentenced next week after being offered a plea deal that has outraged the victim.
Eddie Monroig-Rosario is charged with first-degree sexual assault, unlawful restraint, and second-degree strangulation in the October 2010 attack that happened in the front yard of a home on Fern Street.
Monroig-Rosario is expected to receive 18 years in prison, according to Stephanie Blozy, who is the owner of Fleet Feet Sports in West Hartford and is also a friend of the victim.
He was just sentenced in December to 15 years in prison for a string of burglaries and Blozy says the sentences are expected to be served at the same time.
"In the end that just means two to three years that he'll be serving for rape and what strikes me is the lady that was raped, her scars are really deep," said Blozy. "Something as heinous as a rape is, just to get a slap on the wrist it doesn't seem fair."
Calls to the attorneys on the case were not returned.
Blozy is now writing a letter to the judge and she hopes to speak at the sentencing. She's also getting the word out on Facebook. By mid-afternoon on Tuesday, her post already had 1,300 likes. She's planning to attach all of those names to her letter.
"It's not that he hurt just her. He hurt the entire running community. He took away our freedom to go out for a run," said Blozy.
Jill Karno is a runner who lives blocks away from where the crime happened.
"We want to make sure that if this happened to another runner that someone wouldn't be able to just come out and do the same thing again," said Karno.
They're hoping to convince the judge to change the deal so Monroig-Rosario will serve longer in prison.
"He took our freedom and that deserves more than a two to three year sentence," said Blozy.
Monroig-Rosario is due back in court May 23 and is expected to be sentenced at that time.
Photo Credit: West Hartford Police