BOSTON — A man who used to work as a lawyer and prosecutor in Boston and was named one of People magazine’s most eligible bachelors was given a sentence of five to ten years in state jail for rape on Monday.
After deliberating for five hours, the jury found Gary Zerola, 52, guilty last month. He has been in jail since then. A stronger charge of aggravated rape and theft was dropped against him.
In January 2021, prosecutors said Zerola paid more than $2,000 to drink with a woman he was dating and her friend, who was 21 years old and had just graduated from college. Someone had to help the friend back to her Beacon Hill apartment because she was drunk. Then, Zerola broke into the woman’s room without permission and raped her around 2 a.m. while she was sleeping, according to the prosecutors.
A victim impact statement from the woman was read in court. It said that she had tried very hard not to let the event affect her or give Zerola any control over the rest of her life. While she was in court, she talked about “the significant and insidious effect this event has had on my life.”
“For months after the attack, I had nightmares every night that were reliving it.” “I still dream that someone is breaking into my apartment and trying to attack me,” the woman wrote.
The Associated Press doesn’t usually name people who have been sexually assaulted.
“These cases are always tough, and this victim deserves a lot of praise for standing up in court and telling the jury what happened that night,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement after the decision.
On Monday, Zerola’s lawyer, Joseph Krowski Jr., said that his client will appeal the decision. He said the term wasn’t what they wanted, but it was close to or in the recommended range for someone who had never been in trouble with the law before. He said Zerola had not been found guilty of two of the original charges.
His lawyer, Krowski Jr., said that his client was doing “as well as could be expected under the circumstances.” He also said that his client would use his time well and learn from the experience.
Zerola had been accused of other sexual attacks in the past but wasn’t found guilty. The district attorney’s office says he was found not guilty of two counts of rape in Suffolk County in 2023. Between 2006 and 2007, he was also charged with three counts of sexual abuse but not found guilty.
Ex-District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office says Zerola worked as a deputy district attorney in Essex County for a year and in Suffolk County for two months in 2000.
