EL PASO, Texas (Tribune News Service) — A Fort Bliss soldier was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison after he was found guilty in sexual assault cases in a court-martial.
A military judge sentenced Pfc. Christian G. Alvarado on Friday to 18 years and three months in prison along with a dishonorable discharge.
Alvarado was convicted of raping Pfc. Asia Graham, a 19-year-old soldier who died in her Fort Bliss barracks room on the morning of New Year’s Eve on Dec. 31, 2020, and another woman.
A military autopsy determined Graham died due to “accidental mixed drug intoxication” of fentanyl and multiple synthetic cannabinoids.
Graham’s death occurred almost year to the day since she was sexually assaulted.
Alvarado was convicted of raping Graham while she was unconscious on Dec. 30, 2019. The assault occurred within the first month of her arrival at Fort Bliss after joining the Army five months earlier.
Alvarado was also accused of raping and groping other women at Fort Bliss and his hometown of Mesa, Ariz.
Alvarado faced of seven sexual assault charges dating back to December 2018.
Alvarado was convicted of two counts of sexual assault, one count of aggravated assault and one count of making a false official statement to investigators, a Fort Bliss news release stated.
He was acquitted on five counts of sexual assault and one count of making a false statement, authorities said.
Alvarado had been in the U.S. Army since July 2018. He arrived at Fort Bliss, his first duty station, in February 2019.
In a separate case, El Paso County court records show Alvarado still faces a state misdemeanor charge of unlawful discharge of a firearm in El Paso.
Alvarado is accused of firing an AR-15 rifle at a berm outside an apartment complex on Riley Court near Railroad Drive in Northeast El Paso on March 14, 2020. The case is pending in court.
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