Ex-lawyer, Matthew Muller, to get 31 years in Vallejo kidnapping and rape

Matthew Muller, the man who invaded a Vallejo home and sexually assaulted and kidnapped a woman in a case that was initially deemed a hoax by police, is expected to plead no contest to state charges.

Muller is set to be sentenced Friday to 31 years in state prison in Solano County Superior Court, according to prosecutor Sharon Henry. This would be served concurrently withthe 40-year sentence he received in federal court for kidnapping Denise Huskins, she said.

The case drew national headlines after Vallejo police publicly branded Huskins and her then-boyfriend and now husband Aaron Quinn as liars who had engineered the ordeal.

The prosecutor said Muller is expected to plead no contest to two counts of forcible rape involving Huskins as well as robbery, burglary and false imprisonment with respect to Quinn.

Authorities say back in 2015, Muller broke into the couple's home in Vallejo, drugged them and took Huskins to the Tahoe area, where he raped her before releasing her two days later in Southern California not far from her father's home.

Vallejo police initially called the whole thing a hoax. The couple sued, and won a $2.5 million settlement.

The case was cracked wide open when Dublin police, investigating a similar home invasion, identified Muller as the suspect. The FBI worked the case, which led to federal charges that did not include rape.

Crime and Public SafetyInstanewsVallejo