Appellate Court Affirms 43 year sentence for accomplice to rape

Cory Israel was sentenced to 43 years as an accomplice to a rape and kidnapping of a Middletown woman. He appealed, claiming that the evidence did not support his conviction, that the prosecutor's closing argument was prejudicial, and that his sentence was unfair given that the other two defendants received lessor sentences. The Twelfth Appellate District of Ohio affirmed the conviction and sentence. The most interesting point in the appeal was that Isreal was the accomplice and received a sentence of 43 years. Meanwhile, the two other defendants - that actively participated in the rape - received sentences of 24 and 31 years. However, Isreal's sentence was within the statutory range and, therefore, presumed to be reasonable.