The 19-year-old Long Island woman who filed a bogus rape complaint against two Sacred Heart University football players was sentenced Thursday to a year behind bars — and got a tongue lashing from the judge.
Nikki Yovino first told cops in October 2016 that the two players from the Fairfield, Connecticut, college forced her to have sex in a bathroom at a booze-filled party.
She later admitted that she made the charges up so her evident promiscuity wouldn’t alienate a potential boyfriend.
But during a pre-trial hearing, she went back to her original version of events before finally pleading guilty in state Superior Court in Bridgeport to two counts of second-degree falsely reporting an incident and one count of interfering with police, the Connecticut Post reported.
“I just hope you spend the time reflecting on what you did,” Judge William Holden told Yovino. Holden sentenced her to three years but suspended the final two.
One of her victims — both of whom left the school — read a statement in court as the defendant rolled her eyes, the paper reported.
“I went from being a college student to sitting at home being expelled with no way to clear my name,” Malik St. Hilaire told the courtroom as Yovino started smirking.
“I just hope she knows what she has done to me, my life will never be the same. I did nothing wrong, but everything has been altered because of this.”
Lawyer Frank Riccio read a statement from the second victim, who remained unidentified.
“The last almost two years have been definitely my most difficult of my life,” the statement read.
“The roller coaster of emotions; fear, anger, sadness, embarrassment, depression, anxiety and the list goes on. She accused me of what I believe to be a horrendous, horrific crime out of her own selfish concerns. I lost my scholarship, my dream of continuing to play football and now I am in debt $30,000 and I’m simply trying to get ahead as best as I can.”
Yovino’s mother, the only relative in court to back her, was kicked out of the courtroom after her cellphone went off, the Connecticut paper reported.