Jurors in rape trial try again Wednesday

YOUNGSTOWN — After two full days in the jury room without reaching a verdict, a jury of seven women and five men will return to the Mahoning County Courthouse at 9 a.m. Wednesday to keep trying.

They will deliberate the case of a man charged with three counts of rape and one count of gross sexual imposition involving a 10-year-old boy.

On Friday afternoon, jurors began deliberating the fate of Nicholas C. Congemi, 27, of Meadowbrook Avenue, who faces a mandatory life prison term if he’s convicted on any of the rape counts and one to five years in prison if he’s convicted on the gross sexual imposition charge. The offenses, on which Congemi was indicted in August 2003, allegedly occurred in May through August 2002 at Congemi’s residence, where the boy cut the grass. The trial began May 14.