148-Year Sentence For Man Who Forced Couples To Have Sex At Gunpoint

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ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) - A man convicted of targeting couples at New Jersey motels and forcing them to have sex at gunpoint before he robbed them has been sentenced to 148 years in state prison.

A judge told Rasheed Powell "your reign of terror ends here" when he imposed the sentence Thursday. The 43-year-old Elizabeth man was convicted in March on 60 counts, including aggravated sexual assault and robbery charges.

Prosecutors say the assaults occurred during a two-month period in 2012 at motels in Linden and Elizabeth.

They say Powell stalked couples as they entered their rooms, then forced his way inside and made them perform sexual acts on each other. He then locked the men up in the bathroom and sexually assaulted the women.

Authorities used DNA to identify Powell as a suspect.