HANCOCK COUNTY — The special prosecutor who took over a rape case in the county has filed paperwork for a plea agreement.
Nabil Zaim, 36, Greenfield, has been accused of four felonies and two misdemeanors, including a Level 3 felony count of rape. The plea agreement, filed Tuesday, July 21, indicates most of those charges will be dropped should Judge Marie Castetter of Hancock County Superior Court 1 accept it.
The plea deal, filed by special prosecutor D. Lee Buckingham of Hamilton County, calls for Zaim to plead guilty to the two Class A misdemeanor charges, domestic battery and interference with the reporting of a crime. The four felony charges, including the count of rape, will be dismissed.
The deal calls for Zaim to be sentenced to 365 days in the Hancock County Jail, with eight days executed and 357 days suspended to probation on the domestic battery charge. A 365-day sentence for interfering with the reporting of a crime also would be suspended to probation.
Special conditions of the agreement call for Zaim to complete a batterer’s intervention program and receive a mental health assessment and follow treatment recommendations.
The court will have to review the agreement along with a pre-sentence investigation report before the deal is accepted. No date has been set for the change-of-plea hearing.
Zaim had been accused of dragging a woman by her hair, punching her repeatedly and raping her, police said in a probable cause affidavit filed in support of the charges in March.
According to the affidavit, police were called to the home in the 2000 block of Cabin Hill Road in Cumberland on Friday, March 13, after a woman said Zaim had hit her in the face. It was the second time officers had been to the home that day.
The victim told police that after they left from the earlier call, Zaim assaulted her, punching her in the eye and kicking her in the ribs several times, the affidavit said.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton sought a special prosecutor after Zaim’s attorney indicated he planned to call at least one employee from the prosecutor’s office as part of Zaim’s defense.
