A Vineyard Haven man accused of sexually assaulting a woman after a wedding party three years ago was convicted of rape by a jury last week and sentenced to up to seven years in prison by a Dukes County Superior Court judge.

The Hon. C. Brian McDonald last Friday sentenced Richard Skrzypczyk, 59, to a prison term of no less than five and no more than seven years at MCI Cedar Junction, a maximum security facility located in Walpole. The jury took less than three hours to find him guilty.

Cape and Islands district attorney Laura Marshard said DNA evidence played a large role in the prosecution’s case against Mr. Skrzypczyk.

Testimony began last Tuesday in the case. Mr. Skrzypczyk reportedly raped the victim as she slept on a couch following the wedding of Eric Gaudette of Edgartown in 2004. The victim was hired by Mr. Gaudette to photograph his wedding and was invited to stay in his home during her stay on the Vineyard.

In her opening statements last week, Ms. Marshard said the victim had too much to drink the night of the wedding and went to sleep on a couch in an intoxicated state. Mr. Skrzypczyk later saw the victim on the couch and raped her, Ms. Marshard said.

The victim went to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital the next day for an examination at which time a DNA sample was collected that was later linked to Mr. Skrzypczyk.

In other Dukes County Superior Court news this week the case involving Lillian Haigazian, 55, of Edgartown, who is accused of stealing over $90,000 from an elderly woman she was hired to care for, was continued until the next superior court session in December.

In April, Ms. Haigazian was indicted by a grand jury on nine counts: larceny of a credit card, misuse of a credit card, two charges of uttering, two charges of forgery and three charges of larceny pursuant to a single scheme of someone over the age of 60. She pleaded not guilty to all nine charges.

Ms. Haigazian had been scheduled for a possible plea change last week when the case was continued.

Derrick Mercier was sentenced to four years of probation and 16 hours of community service for violating the terms of his previous probation stemming from three counts of statutory rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.