NORTHAMPTON — A Belchertown man was sentenced to 5 to 7 years in state prison on Monday after he was found guilty of rape, strangulation, suffocation and two counts of assault and battery.
Erik L. Wheeler, 42, was convicted after a 10-day trial, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office, in connection to assaults on the same victim in 2018 and 2019.
Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey sentenced Wheeler to state prison on the rape charge. For the strangulation and assault charges, Wheeler was sentenced to concurrent terms of two years and after his release, he will serve three years of probation on the suffocation count.
“There are few crimes considered more heinous, more abhorrent, more atrocious than rape,” Assistant District Attorney Sandra Staub said in a statement. “Rape strips a person of all power and control they have over their body and their life and instills a deep sense of emptiness, fear, anxiety, and depression in its victim. … The impact is not short, but devastatingly long, and oftentimes, permanent.”
The jury deliberated for more than 12 hours over a period of three days, the DA’s office said. They found Wheeler not guilty on additional charges of rape, two counts, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery and strangulation.
While serving his post-release probation, Wheeler must stay away from the victim, refrain from using alcohol and other drugs, comply with random substance testing and complete a batterer’s treatment program.
“We’re grateful for the jury’s hard work and satisfied by the sentence imposed by the court,” Staub said.
A defense attorney for Wheeler, Jeffrey Weisser, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.