One of five Mexican immigrants charged with brutally raping a woman in Flushing Meadow Park last year agreed to plead guilty yesterday – then scrapped the deal at the last minute, saying “I didn’t rape anyone.”
Luis Carmona’s bizarre recant capped an exhausting day in Queens Supreme Court that saw defense, prosecutors and the judge argue back and forth over plea deals for the five men.
“It was frustrating,” said Anne D’Elia, who represents defendant Armando Juvenal, 21. After several hours of heated negotiations, all sides came to an agreement calling for a sentence of 20 to 23 years in prison – instead of nearly 100 years if they’re convicted at trial.
Only Carmona, 22, and co-defendant Victor Cruz, 23, agreed to take the deal, and they were ordered to give a full statement regarding the heinous, hours-long attack last Dec. 19. Authorities charge the men dragged the victim from the park’s main walkway down to near the Long Island Rail Road tracks and gangraped her.
Carmona confessed to drinking with the five before mugging the victim and her boyfriend – but stunned the courtroom when he denied raping her. The judge then tossed out the deal.