A Botetourt County man who had faced the possibility of four life sentences on charges of rape, sodomy, abduction and assault will by plea agreement serve about two and a half years in prison.

Richard Cori Harth, 23, pleaded no contest to felony strangulation and inanimate object sexual penetration and to misdemeanor obstruction charges today in Botetourt County Circuit Court.

Under the agreement, he’ll also receive 18 years in suspended time and will be on probaion for five years.

Harth was charged July 4 after a woman claimed he used rope to tie her so that if she struggled, her movements would cut off her air supply.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Lethia Hammond said the vicitm met Harth at a Botetourt County motel, where they drank together, and said she later came to in Harth’s tent. He had been camping nearby.

Hammond presented to Judge David Melesco photographs of ligature marks from the rope and also a number of cigarette burns on the victim’s body.

When Melesco asked about the relatively small amount of time agreed to in the plea deal, Hammond said that the victim suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and medical complications from a newborn child and had been unwilling to testify.

Melesco told Harth that the potential sentence measured “more than I can count” and said his jucidial guidelines on the strangulation charge ranged from nine and 20 years. But he said he would stick to the agreement.

“You’re lucky I’m going to accept this,” Melesco said. “You need to go buy lottery tickets because you’re an extremely fortunate man.”

Defense attorney Tom Rowe Jr. cited other factors he would have brought up at trial, including forensic evidence favorable to his client and recorded statements by the victim and witnesses.

He also said the victim had a 0.14 percent blood-alcohol content hours after she contacted police.

Hammond said it was unfortunate that the case couldn’t go to trial but added. “We have to think about her [the victim’s] health, too.”

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