A man who had been convicted of rape and had left Ireland before he was sentenced has been jailed for seven years at the Central Criminal court.
Christian Moran had left Ireland after pleading guilty to raping a woman who he attacked as she walked to her home in Carlow in July 1999.
The 29-year-old had pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial.
Today the court was told that Moran had only pleaded guilty to the offence after the victim had given evidence and had been cross-examined.
Moran had been missing since he failed to appear to be sentenced in 2001.
He had been granted bail pending sentence and had moved to the US.
In July FBI agents, acting on an anonymous tip off, arrested Moran a few miles south of Boston.
The victim of Moran's attack gave an impact statement in court today.
She said if Moran had been remorseful for what he had done he would not have run away in 'like a coward'.
The woman also told the court about the stress of waiting to see her attacker sentenced.
