A man from Rhode Island who staged his own death before escaping to Scotland has been sentenced to prison.
District Judge Barry Lawrence referred to 38-year-old Nicholas Rossi as “a serial abuser of women,” as reported by the Associated Press, and handed down an “indeterminate sentencing” of at least five years behind bars for one of two rape charges.
Rossi was found guilty earlier this year by a jury on two separate rape charges stemming from incidents in Utah. His sentencing for the second conviction is scheduled for November.
In court on Monday, Rossi, who is legally known as Nicholas Alahverdian, maintained his innocence, stating, “I am not guilty of this. These women are lying.”
CrimeOnline previously reported that in 2008, Rossi assaulted a 26-year-old former girlfriend during an argument in Salt Lake County and also raped a 21-year-old woman in Orem, Utah, that same year.
Following these incidents, he faked his own death and fled the United States.
An online obituary claimed Rossi died on February 29, 2020, from late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma, although investigators and his former foster families had doubts.
In December 2021, Rossi was identified and apprehended while getting treatment for COVID-19 at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland.
Hospital staff recognized Rossi from his tattoos from an international alert, known as an INTERPOL notice.
Rossi claimed to be an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight, arguing that he had never been to the U.S. However, Rossi grew up in Rhode Island foster homes, according to NBC News.
In 2024, a Scottish judge ordered Rossi to be extradited back to the U.S., calling his claims of being an Irish orphan “implausible” and “fanciful.”
Rossi’s former girlfriend took the stand during his trial, and pointed him out as her aggressor, saying he appeared “a little bit heavier, a little bit older.”
The unnamed victim said she began dating Rossi after meeting him on Craigslist. Within a few weeks, they were engaged.
The victim, who admitted she was timid at the time, having suffered a traumatic brain injury, said Rossi asked her to pay for their dates and pay his rent so he would not get evicted.
Arguments followed, reportedly over the defendant’s controlling behavior, and escalated into Rossi blocking her car in a garage so she couldn’t leave. She allowed him inside the car and drove him home, but the relationship, she said, was over.
She later agreed to go to his house to talk to him, but said she had no plans with reconciling with him. That’s when he forced her on his bed and sexually assaulted her.
“We are grateful to the survivor in this case for her willingness to come forward, years after this attack took place,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gil said in a statement.
“It took courage and bravery to take the stand and confront her attacker to hold him accountable.”
Following sentencing, Rossi was taken to the Utah State Correctional Facility.
Lawrence added that the state’s board of pardons and parole will decide if Rossi will stay behind bars more than five years.
[Feature Photo: FILE – In this image made from pool video footage, Nicholas Rossi, accused of faking his death and fleeing to Europe to avoid rape charges, appears at a jury trial in Salt Lake City, Aug. 11, 2025. (Firecrest Films via AP, Pool, File)]
