Guilty plea
Coffey admits to raping two women

GUILDERLAND — Robert Coffey has admitted to raping two Guilderland women. He made the plea on Tuesday in Albany County Court, and he is now facing 25 years in prison.

Coffey, 28, who lived on 33 Church Rd. in Guilderland pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree rape, stemming from two January indictments. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Steven W. Herrick at the Albany County courthouse on July 18, for sentencing. Coffey’s attorney, Kent Sprotbery, said the sentencing may be moved up to July 20.

Coffey was originally arrested for binding the wrists of a 14-year-old female inside of his Church Road trailer and forcibly raping her. The second charge was made after a 19-year-old woman came forward, saying Coffey had raped her and left her along the side of Western Avenue. She saw his mug shot on television from the first rape charge.

Sprotbery had maintained his client’s innocence from the time of the indictment. But then, he told The Enterprise Tuesday, "There were a number of changes in the evidentiary layout"Rob decided that he would go with the plea deal."

Coffey was originally facing a minimum of 25 years for each rape charge, to which he had pleaded not guilty during his indictment hearings.
Sprotbery said that Coffey and his family looked at everything involving the case and decided that they "needed to be done with the thing."
"It spares him, it spares his family, and it spares the victims from enduring a dragged-out trial," Sprotbery said on Tuesday.

District Attorney David Soares’s spokeswoman, Rachel McEneny, told The Enterprise on Tuesday that the Guilderland Police Department was instrumental with making the first arrest and getting a conviction.
"The Guilderland Police were able to get DNA evidence off of the wrist bindings from the first victim," said McEneny. "In this age of CSI television, jurors really look to DNA evidence."
Coffey had worked as a bouncer at the dance club Sneaky Pete’s in Albany, McEneny said. In September of 2005, he lured his 14-year-old neighbor into his trailer, "by asking her to feed his iguana," said McEneny. He drugged his second victim, drove her to an undisclosed location, then raped her in his car, and left her on the side of Western Avenue, McEneny said.
"We were able to achieve this tough sentence as a direct result of the forensic work-up by the Guilderland Police and the courage of this young woman coming forward," Soares said in a statement. "It was our hope that the victims and their families can begin to heal and restore some semblance of a normal life. Coffey will be incarcerated for a very long time; he is now a danger off our streets and out of our neighborhoods."

Rebecca Bauscher, the assistant district attorney for the Special Victims Unit in Albany County, also commended the Guilderland Police for their meticulous forensic work while handling the case.
"This is a clear message that this is happening in Guilderland and Altamont, not just in the city of Albany, in places like Arbor Hill," said McEneny of the rapes. "This office has doubled its staff in the Special Victims Unit because of the increased numbers of complaints; more people are coming forward."