Boston lawyer, once called “most eligible bachelor,” sentenced to 5-10 years in prison for raping 21-year-old

BOSTON (AP) — A former Boston lawyer and prosecutor who was once named one of People magazine’s most eligible bachelors was sentenced Monday to between five and 10 years in prison for rape.

Gary Zerola, 52, was found guilty last month after a jury deliberated for five hours and has been in prison ever since. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of aggravated rape and burglary.

Prosecutors said Zerola paid more than $2,000 in January 2021 for a night of drinking with a woman he was dating and her 21-year-old friend, who had just graduated from college. The friend became intoxicated and had to be taken back to her Beacon Hill apartment. Zerola later entered the apartment without permission and sexually assaulted the woman while she was sleeping around 2 a.m., prosecutors said.

In a statement read out in court, the woman said she had tried desperately not to let the incident affect her and not to give Zerola any power over her future life. But she said attending the trial had made her aware of “the significant and insidious impact this event had on my life”.

“For months after the incident, I had recurring nightmares every night in which I relived the attack over and over again. To this day, I still have nightmares about someone breaking into my apartment and trying to attack me,” the woman wrote.

The Associated Press generally does not release the names of victims of sexual assault.

“These cases are always difficult, and this victim deserves tremendous credit for taking the stand and telling the jury what happened to her that night,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement after the verdict.

Zerola’s attorney, Joseph Krowski Jr., said Monday that his client had appealed the verdict. He said the sentence was not what they wanted, but was within or close to the recommended range for someone with no prior criminal record. He pointed out that Zerola was acquitted on two of the three original charges.

Krowski Jr. said his client is doing “as well as could be expected under the circumstances” and that he will use his time wisely and come out of this case positively.

Zerola had previously been charged with other sexual assaults but was not convicted in those cases. He had been charged twice with rape in Suffolk County and was acquitted in 2023, according to the county prosecutor’s office. He was also charged with three counts of sexual assault between 2006 and 2007 but was not convicted.

According to former District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office, Zerola worked as an assistant district attorney in Essex County for one year and in Suffolk County for two months in 2000.

He was arrested in January 2021.