September 20, 2006 CROWN POINT, Ind. - A Gary man has been sentenced to 250 years in prison for a series of rapes.

Forty-four-year-old Francis Lamarr Sims was convicted of 22 felony counts, including five counts of rape.
He was charged in a series of rapes that occurred in Gary between 2000 and 2002. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter says Sims was linked to the crimes by D-N-A evidence.

A routine D-N-A screening while Sims was in prison on other charges connected him to 18 unsolved rapes. He was prosecuted on five of the cases.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)