MAHONING COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) – Former Mahoning County jail inmate Rondell Lamar Harris was sentenced to prison Monday for charges related to the rape of a deputy at the jail.

The attack occurred on May 5, 2022, when Harris pulled the deputy into a cell and assaulted, strangled, and raped her.

Harris was being held in the Mahoning County jail on charges related to an incident that occurred while he was previously incarcerated at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

Harris pleaded guilty to rape, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and disrupting public service.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that Harris will serve a sentence of 26 to 31.5 years in prison, and will be required to register as a Tier 3 sex offender and as a violent offender upon release.

“Even behind bars, a predator remains a predator,” Yost said in a press release.

The case was investigated by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

FOX 8 sister station WKBN was inside the courtroom for the sentencing.