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The jury deliberated for only two hours and returned guilty verdicts on one charge of kidnapping and ten counts of rape, Boston25 said. Both sides wrapped up their cases in closing arguments around noon on Tuesday.
The weeklong trial featured some graphic and unsettling testimony from Boston police detectives and the victim and a shocking reversal when Pena, 42, took the witness stand in his defense on Monday.
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum said Pena walked the drunk woman from outside of a downtown Boston bar in January 2019 to his apartment, where he attacked her for "three days of hell."
In their closing argument, Pena's lawyer asked the jury to find him not guilty because of his diminished capacity.
"Because of a mental defect, he lacks criminal responsibility," his attorney told the jury, according to Abbey Niezgoda of NBC10.
Pena alleged in his testimony that the woman asked to go to his apartment after they met on the street. He said the relationship was consensual, but security camera footage and witness statements contradicted that narrative.
The victim testified that he forced her to drink alcohol during her captivity, only fed her canned pineapple, and threatened to harm her if she escaped.
"He wouldn't let me leave, and then, after I was like, 'No, I have to leave,' he threatened to kill me," she said, according to WCVB. "I think he just said, like, you can't leave. Don't get up, or I'll kill you."
Boston police rescued her from captivity after tracking her cellphone. Pena has spent the past three years in a jail cell waiting on his trial since his arrest.
Pena faces 25 years in prison on the kidnapping charge, the Boston Globe reported. Each rape charge carries a possible 30-year sentence, the paper said.
Pena's sentencing hearing is set for Monday, reports said.
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