Shuhei Nakata, 22, was sentenced this week to six months in County Jail for raping an intoxicated woman last June in Isla Vista.
A UCSB dropout who played lacrosse and worked at a local tech company, Nakata was born in Japan but spent most of his life in Northern California before moving to the Santa Barbara area for college. Once he completes his remaining 55 days in custody, Nakata will likely be deported, as he is not a U.S. citizen.
That “collateral consequence” was essential for prosecutor Von Nguyen, who struck a plea deal with Nakata’s defense attorney, Catherine Swysen. “These are tough cases,” Nguyen said outside the courtroom Monday. “I took [the victim’s] feelings and what we believed to be best for her into consideration.”