Rapist receives suspended sentence

A Carson City man who admitted guilt in the August sexual assault of a 15-year-girl was given a suspended sentence Monday in a Carson City District Courtroom.

Lloyd "Sonny" James Hundley, 21, pleaded guilty in January to battery with intent to commit sexual assault, an offense that would normally be punishable by a minimum five-year prison term, considering the girl was under 16.

Instead, Hundley received a two-year sentence, suspended provided he does not commit another crime. As part of a deal with prosecutors Hundley will testify against his roommate, 19-year-old Ryan Pistoresi.

Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer said the state was employing a "legal fiction" that the girl was 16 years old in order to ask for a two-year sentence.

Pistoresi is set to go to trial in July, when Hundley is to testify against him.

During his sentencing, Hundley asked for mercy, saying, "I want to be with my little boy, my family and my parents." Langer said the girl's family agreed they would be happy with a suspended sentence.

Hundley was released after 100 days in jail. His bail was set at $50,000.

Pistoresi faces a potential life sentence if convicted of four counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sex and one count of battery to commit sexual assault.

Public defender Steve McGuire has maintained Pistoresi's innocence from the beginning. At Pistoresi's preliminary hearing in December, McGuire said the girl was lying to get herself out of trouble. "There may be some regrets about the acts that she willfully committed," he said at the time.

The girl, who hails from Redding, Calif., was in town visiting a friend at the time of the assault. She testified at Pistoresi's hearing that she was given alcohol and coerced into having sex with the two men.