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Teen Rejects Plea Deal In 2007 Rapes

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By GEORGE WILKENS

gwilkens@tampatrib.com

Published: March 5, 2009

DADE CITY - A teenager accused of brutally raping two Zephyrhills women in 2007 rejected a plea deal Wednesday that would have sent him to prison for 30 years.

Instead, the trial of Jathniel "J" McMichael, 19, was set for early next month on charges in one of two rape cases in 2007.

At Wednesday's hearing, Judge Pat Siracusa detailed for the defendant that conviction at trial could result in a life sentence.

"I don't say that to scare you," only to make clear the options, he told McMichael, brought to the courtroom wearing handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit. Sometimes after being convicted and receiving a life sentence defendants say, "Nobody told me I could have taken 30 years," the judge said.

The 30-year term could be reduced by time served, Siracusa said, conceding, "It's 10 years longer than you've been alive."

"I understand, judge," McMichael replied, adding that he welcomes an opportunity to prove his innocence.

The March 2007 attacks on two retirees stunned residents of Zephyrhills, alarmed that a serial rapist was targeting the community.

Deputies say that on March 27, two men broke into the mobile home of a 68-year-old woman at Ramblewood mobile home park, beat her, forced her at knifepoint into her minivan and drove to the nearest ATM.

One man drove while the other raped her on the back seat, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office report. The men stole the woman's cash, drove her to a quarry north of Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, pushed her into a pit and rolled the minivan in after her, investigators said.
McMichael was arrested soon after that attack, gave incriminating statements and pointed the finger at two accomplices, the sheriff's office reported.
Bobby Lee Black III, 20, surrendered two days later and faces similar charges, which include rape, home invasion, kidnapping, armed robbery and grand theft auto. The men will have separate trials, one on each attack.

The other rape occurred March 1, 2007, at Winters Mobile Home Park. The 66-year-old victim woke to find one man straddling her with a knife to her throat. The men demanded jewelry and personal identification numbers for her bank cards.

The men took turns raping the woman, and one kicked her in the face on his way out, reports said.

A third man, Andre Brathwaite, 19, is accused of driving the car. He is charged with home invasion robbery but is not expected to go to trial.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4433.

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