PORTLAND, OR- On Friday, January 17th, a man was sentenced to life in federal prison after being convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two women in separate instances, including keeping one of the victims locked in a makeshift cinder block cell.
According to the Associated Press, the convicted offender, 31-year-old Negasi Zuberi, was convicted by a federal jury back in October 2024 on charges of kidnapping, transportation for criminal sexual activity, being a felon in possession of a weapon, and attempting to break out of jail when he tried to smash through his cell window back in August 2023.
At the hearing, one of the victims said, "This is not a man who deserves to be around others. He shows blatant disregard and lack of care for human life." Before Zuberi was sentenced, Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Sweet said in a statement, "Negasi Zuberi is a serial predator who committed acts of evil. He hunted women."
In the press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Natalie Wight said, "There is no place in civil society for this type of terrifying violence. I sincerely hope Zuberi's life sentence will bring some measure of comfort to his victims. Their courage and perseverance are an inspiration to us all."
Authorities said that back in July of 2023, Zuberi solicited a woman to engage in prostitution along Aurora Avenue in Seattle. He told the woman he was an undercover officer, showed her a badge, pointed a Taser at her and then placed her in handcuffs and leg irons before putting her in the back of his vehicle.
He then drove hundreds of miles to his home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and locked the woman in a makeshift cinder block cell in his garage. The woman was able to escape by repeatedly banging on the cell door until it opened and Zuberi fled until he was arrested in Reno, Nevada. CBS4 reported that the woman pounded on the cell's metal door with her hands "until they were bloody." She then took a handgun from Zuberi's car, which was parked in the garage and flagged down a passing motorist, who called 911.
Federal authorities later also linked him to a second kidnapping that took place in May 2023, in which he was convicted of abducting a woman outside a Klamath Falls bar. Prosecutors said he threatened her with a Taser, handcuffed her in the back of his car and then sexually assaulted her. Zuberi pleaded not guilty and continued to claim his innocence into the sentencing hearing.
KGW8 reported that court documents show that prosecutors also laid out that Zuberi had a history of sexual assault and sexual abuse convictions, stating that he was convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old when he was 23. The trial against Zuberi lasted 11 days, during which Zuberi did not take the stand. He attempted to testify on the final day, but his request was denied because he had already waived his right to do so.
