URBANA – A Rantoul man who admitted raping an 81-year-old woman was sentenced Friday to four years in prison.

Anthony Craig Young, 20, whose last known address was in the 300 block of North Drive, pleaded guilty in Champaign County Circuit Court to a single count of criminal sexual assault for an attack on a woman in her home on Briarcliff Drive in Rantoul on July 18.

In return for his plea, more serious charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault were dismissed.

Assistant State's Attorney Duke Harris said because of the victim's condition, she was unlikely to be able to testify in court, which is why he agreed to the negotiated settlement.

Court records show Young has prior convictions for aggravated battery, criminal damage to property and theft. He had been charged with a May 2005 rape that occurred in Champaign, but that charge was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery for bloodying the nose of a police officer who was investigating the attack on the woman.

In an unrelated plea Monday:

William Z. Laws, 26, whose last known address was in the 0-100 block of Toni Lane, Urbana, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $2,035 for a 2004 crime.

Laws pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, admitting that on Nov. 15, 2004, he possessed about 2.3 grams of cocaine intended for sale.

Assistant State's Attorney Dan Clifton said a Champaign police officer tried to stop Laws for an equipment violation. Laws pulled in a driveway and when he was asked to put his hands up, Clifton said, he got out of his car and ran. Police found one package of cocaine in the car and another 14 along his path of flight.