Cold Case Cracked: Fugitive Finally Sentenced For 1979 Rape of Lakeview Woman

Thirty years after Rudy Carter was convicted of raping a woman in her Lakeview home, he is finally behind bars, serving a two-to-six year sentence.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced Monday afternoon that Judge George Peck handed down the sentence to Carter, 56, of Roselle, N.J., who had been on the run since he was convicted of the rape in 1981.

Carter had been charged with Rape in the First Degree and Sexual Abuse in the First Degree on Aug, 9, 1979 and was indicted on both that October.

As his case went to trial before Judge Alfred Samenga on April 6, 1981, Carter fled, but was convicted "in absentia" the following day. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he was able to evade the law for 29 years until last March.

According to the District Attorney's office, DA Investigator William Walsh cracked the cold case by obtaining DMV records and conducting surveillance of Carter while investigating a separate narcotics case.

The New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, including Nassau County Police Detective Joseph Maher, were able to locate Carter at a hotel by tapping cell phone towers. He was arrested in New Jersey on March 4, 2010 and brought back to Nassau County, where he was placed under arrest.

“After 30 years on the run, this defendant will finally serve his punishment for this terrible crime,” Rice said in a statement released today. “It was the tenacity, skill, and dedication of our Nassau County and federal law enforcement agencies that resulted in this cold case being brought to resolution.”