Son of Lujan Found Guilty in Rape Case

Robert Jeffrey Lujan, son of Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr., was convicted Saturday of rape, sodomy and burglary by an Alexandria Circuit Court jury.

Lujan, 28, of Alexandria, was acquitted on a charge of using a weapon in connection with those crimes, according to Randolph Senger, deputy commonwealth attorney.

The jury recommended a 20-year prison sentence for all three counts.

The case went to the jury Friday after defense attorneys and prosecutors said a shotgun recovered from the Cabinet official’s apartment was the key piece of evidence. The jurors deliberated for eight hours on Friday and another eight hours on Saturday.

The prosecution contended that the younger Lujan carried the weapon into the woman’s apartment when he attacked her during the early morning hours of Nov. 11, 1990. The woman, 48, lived in the same apartment complex where Lujan and his parents lived in this Washington suburb.

But one of Lujan’s attorneys, Robert Stanley Powell, said the woman’s descriptions of the shotgun were vague and typified inconsistencies in a “fantasy” story told by the divorced mother of two.

The defense acknowledged that Lujan had sex with the woman but said it was consensual.

Powell also said the woman’s disjointed testimony, the lack of any bruises, scars or any signs of a struggle showed that his client’s story was the true account.

Lujan will remain in custody until sentencing, which has been scheduled for Feb. 21 in Alexandria.