A father-of-two has been sentenced to 148 years in prison for forcing couples to have sex at gunpoint in New Jersey motels, before locking the men in bathrooms and raping the women.

Rasheed Powell, of Elizabeth, was convicted in March for 60 counts that include aggravated robbery and sexual assault.
The crimes took place in the towns of Elizabeth and Linden in New Jersey over the course of two months in 2012, and there were eight victims, four men and four women.
During a six week period starting in March 2012 Powell began targeting couples checking into motels along Routes 1 and 9 in Linden and Elizabeth by forced his way into motel rooms and ordered the couples to engage in sex acts at gunpoint before ordering the men into the bathroom while Powell sexually assaulted the women.

Rasheed Powell 3.jpgRasheed Powell’s sentencing was based on 24 counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, and eight counts of robbery. He also faced 12 counts of sexual assault, 12 weapons offenses, and four counts of burglary

On four occasions, Powell, 43, stalked his victims before forcing his way into their motel rooms, making the couples perform sex acts in front of him, then locking up the men in the bathroom and raping the women.
Springfield Municipal Court heard how Powell would make his victims ‘loudly compliment’ him so their locked-up partners would hear.
He was caught when responding to a traffic summons in court April 2012. When arrested his bail was set at $3million.
It took two hours for Powell to be read his fate in court when he was sentenced August 16.
A jury deliberated over three-and-a-half days at the end of the eight-week trial. The Union County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit tried for 200 years but he was given 148.
His sentencing was based on 24 counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, and eight counts of robbery which is a first degree crime.
In addition, Powell was charged with 12 counts of sexual assault, 12 weapons offenses, and four counts of burglary, which is a second degree crime.
Unwilling to admit to his crimes even in the face of a mountain of evidence. Powell,  of Elizabeth, a father of two children who prosecutors said has been involved in crime since age 14 and has spent about 14 years of his adult life in prison for violent crime, still maintained his innocence.
“In due time proof will come out. I’m innocent,” said Powell, who argued he didn’t get a fair trial.
But Union County Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch told Powell his reign of terror ends today, adding his DNA was extracted from a rape kit, five of the eight victims identified him, his former girlfriend turned over the mask and black jacket he wore during the crimes and police found the handgun.

Swan Motel in Linden, NJPowell would force his way into motel rooms and order the couples to engage in sex acts at gunpoint before ordering the men into the bathroom while he sexually assaulted the women.One victim says she’s ‘afraid of people and what they’re doing’ after the traumatizing incident at the Swan Motel in Linden [photo]
 Four of the eight victims who spoke at the sentencing for Powell who was convicted in March of 60 counts, including 24 counts of aggravated sexual assault.
One victim says she’s ‘afraid of people and what they’re doing’ after the traumatizing incident at the Swan Motel in Linden.

Powell’s attorney Erin Cook asked he only be punished per couple, not per individual, so that he would only get 80 years.
He has already spent a total of 14 years in prison and has been in trouble with the law since he was 14 years old.
Superior Court Judge, Robert Kirsch, was having none of it though, calling Powell a ‘serial rapist’ and mentioning the extensive evidence they had against him.
As well as his ex-girlfriend handing in the mask he used to disguise his identity as well as his jacket and gun, rape kits were used to match his DNA.
‘Your reign of terror ends here, now,’ the judge added.
It didn’t stop Powell from claiming he didn’t get a fair trial, however. mycentralnewjersey.com reports he said: ‘In due time proof will come out. I’m innocent.’

Rasheed Powell 5.jpgRasheed Powell is seen in court for his sentencing – terrorized patrons of hotels in Linden and Elizabeth, NJ. He would make his victims ‘loudly compliment’ him so their locked up partners would hear

The four victims present in court, two men and two women, shared the stories of how the horror affected their lives.
Attendees at Springfield Municipal Court heard how Powell would make his victims ‘loudly compliment’ him so their locked up partners would hear.
A woman assaulted at a Route 1&9 motel said: ‘I hope you don’t have the option to see daylight again.’
Powell’s victim faced him to call him a ‘monster’ and told those in attendance ‘I’m afraid of people and what they are doing. I focus on work, family and I go straight home.’ She was attacked at the Swan Motel in Linden.
The Benedict Motel in Linden, now called the Bentley, was also the setting for one of his horrific crimes.

Judge Robert Kirsch.jpg‘Your reign of terror ends here, now,’ Union County Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsc sent Powell away for a century and half
In Elizabeth, his victims were at the Spring Lane Motel and the Royal Motel.

Another woman, who was raped on Easter Sunday in 2012 and asked for him to get life in prison, told the packed court how she has since suffered from panic attacks and had nightmares.
Additionally she has self-mutilated and had suicidal thoughts after Powell threatened to kill her if she told anyone.