Cold Case Closed: Life Sentence Rendered in 1977 Rockville Rape

A 64-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for raping a woman in Rockville, bringing closure to a cold-case file from 1977, several news outlets reported.

Richard Eugene Ricketts was sentenced to life plus an additional 50 years, according to Montgomery County Circuit Court records accessed online.

Ricketts—a registered sex offender in Florida—was found guilty in February of first-degree rape and two counts of sexual offense, the court records show.

The conviction is tied to a rape and assault on Congressional Lane in 1977, when Rickets was 29 and his victim was 25, The Gazette reported.

A woman was walking from her car to her home around 10 p.m. when a man grabbed her, threw her to the ground and raped her, according to The Gazette’s account, which is posted at Gazette.net.

In a statement after the sentencing, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said DNA played a major role in closing the case, NBC Washington reported.

Ricketts was identified as the attacker in 2011 through DNA evidence, The Washington Examiner reported.