SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – A Rhode Island man accused of faking his death and fleeing the United States to evade rape charges was found guilty Wednesday of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in his first of two Utah trials.

Nicholas Rossi, whose legal name is Nicholas Alahverdian, was extradited from Scotland to Utah after he faked his own death in an attempt to escape the charges.

Rossi faked his own death in 2020, with an online obituary claiming he died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But authorities later found him recovering from COVID-19 in a Scottish hospital.

For years, Rossi fought extradition to the United States, drawing international attention.

The five-day trial began Monday at the Matheson Courthouse shortly before 9:30 a.m. Mountain time. The jury was given “stipulated facts,

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