Jail Guard Sentenced to 203 Years in Prison

After being convicted of 13 felonies, judge sends Walters to prison for two centuries

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a judge has sentenced convicted sexual predator Ricardo Walters, 43, of Hempstead, to 203 years in prison, after a jury in November found the former New York City corrections officer guilty of rape, kidnapping, sexual assault, and robbery charges in connection with a series of early morning attacks, including one on a pregnant woman.

Walters was convicted in November of Rape in the First Degree, four counts of Robbery in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, four counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Kidnapping and Attempted Kidnapping in the Second Degree.  Nassau County Judge James McCormack presided over the trial and sentenced Walters Tuesday afternoon.

Rice said that Walters would approach women on the street in the early morning hours, display his corrections department-registered handgun and demand money. Once he had robbed them, he would then try to force them into a secluded area where he would sexually assault them.

In addition to robbing and sodomizing a woman in April 2005, Rice said Walters also robbed and sexually abused a pregnant woman in November 2005, and robbed two sisters in November 2006. In that case, Walters entered the car the two women were sitting in, robbed them at gunpoint, and then fled the scene when they refused his order to drive to a secluded area.

Walters was caught on September 9, 2007 when a passing Hempstead police officer saw him try to force a woman into a construction site after robbing her. Walters fled on foot but was eventually caught and identified himself as a law enforcement officer. A police search revealed the money he stole from the victim, which contained a handwritten note with the name of the victim’s sister. A DNA sample taken by police matched a sample taken from the then-unsolved April 2005 sodomy and robbery.

“The judge’s appropriate sentence will give this defendant the rest of his life to think about what he’s done,” said Rice. 

Bureau Chief Madeline Singas and Assistant District Attorney Theresa Tebbett of the DA’s Special Victims Bureau are handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office. Walters is being represented by Dennis Lemke, Esq.