BY JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A 26-year-old serial sexual offender will serve the rest of his life in prison for a violent attack on a Hays woman in 2019.
Tre Carrasco was sentenced to 96 years in prison Wednesday in Ellis County District Court by 20th Judicial District Court Judge Steve Johnson.
In December, Carrasco pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one count of aggravated battery.
The sentence will run concurrently to a 136-year prison sentence Carrasco received after he was convicted on 11 counts stemming from an attempted kidnapping and violent sexual assault of an Aurora, Colo., woman in February 2019, three days after the assault in Hays.
According to Ellis County court documents, on Feb. 3, 2019, Carrasco held a gun to the neck of a 19-year-old Hays woman and threatened to kill her while he raped her.
If the case went to trial and he was convicted on the three Ellis County charges, Carrasco could have faced 1,306 months or more than 108 years in jail.
Carrasco and his defense believe his prison sentence in Colorado could be reduced to 96 years.
Ellis County Attorney Robert Anderson elected to agree, as part of the plea agreement, to a downward departure sentence, matching the 96 years.
The plea agreement also states that if his Colorado conviction is reduced or voided, he will be returned to Kansas to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
Johnson presided over the case because both 23rd Judicial District Chief Judge Glenn Braun and District Judge Tom Drees recused themselves.
“Ninety-six years pretty much ensures he spends the rest of his life behind bars," Johnson said.
In a statement to Hays Post, Ellis County Attorney Robert Anderson said, “Knowing that this defendant was sentenced to serve 136-years to life in Colorado, I was comfortable agreeing to what we agreed to do. Even if the defendant is successful at getting his time reduced in Colorado, and even if he earns all possible good time, according to my calculation, he wouldn’t be eligible for parole on this sentence until he is 105 years old. The reality is that he will die in the Colorado prison system. This was a great result for this case. Hopefully, the survivor of these horrific crimes can begin to heal now that this is behind her.”
Carrasco has a lengthy criminal history that dates back to an incident in Hays in 2008 when he was 13 years old.
He has prior convictions for forced sexual assault when he was 16-year-old. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2013.
Shorty after, he was released Carrasco committed the February 2019 attacks in Hays and Aurora.
Anderson said authorities are working to get Carrasco transferred back to Colorado, which could happen within a few days.