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Man sentenced for rape, intimidation
Antwon Lanier already is serving time for two other violent crimes.
YOUNGSTOWN — Antwon Lanier’s multiple visits to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court have come to an end with his third sentencing on separate felony charges in three years.
Lanier, 26, was scheduled to go on trial before Judge John M. Durkin of common pleas court on charges of rape, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and several counts of intimidation of a witness. Lanier, instead, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors Monday.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lanier pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of intimidation of a victim. Prosecutors agreed to drop all other charges and specifications against him in exchange for the plea.
Judge Durkin sentenced Lanier to 10 years in prison on the rape charge and five years in prison on the intimidation of a victim charge. The sentences will run concurrently and concurrent to time Lanier is serving in two other unrelated cases.
The rape and intimidation conviction stems from a 2005 incident where Lanier assaulted a Warren woman in the front yard of a home not far from a Youngstown South Side bar.
The rape victim told police she was forced out of Teenie’s Tavern on South Avenue at gunpoint and raped in the front yard of a house with high bushes near Taft Elementary School on East Avondale Avenue.
Police checked the area around Taft and found a house with high bushes on East Avondale at the corner of Homestead Street. A used condom and its wrapper were found in the front yard near bushes and taken as evidence.
The woman, when interviewed by police, said she’d gone to the bar with a female friend. She said they were approached by two men, one later identified as Lanier.
The female friend had asked to see Lanier’s license because she didn’t believe he was old enough to drink. She remembered the birth date — May 6, 1983 — from the license.
The victim told police Lanier followed her into the ladies’ room and pulled out a large handgun, telling her, “Don’t talk, scream or cry or I’ll kill you and your friend.” She said they walked to a back patio and then down Avondale, ending up in the front yard.
The woman said she was raped after being threatened again to not make any noise. She said Lanier then wanted all her money and she gave him $6, reports show.
The woman told police Lanier looked at her identification, noted her address and said he’d come to her house and kill her if she told anyone what happened.
Lanier already was serving a 55-year-to-life sentence for crimes related to the rape and murder of 19-year-old Sierra Slaton in August 2005. He was sentenced for that crime in May.
Before the May sentencing, Lanier was sentenced to a 21-year prison term for armed robbery and felonious assault.
jgoodwin@vindy.com