LOOKING BACK : The People...

What has come to be known as the “Urbanski rape case” is no longer a topic of daily discussion in the boardrooms and along the boat docks of Tampa, Fla. But it is not forgotten.

“Something like that will never be forgotten,” says Nancy Ford, development director for a Tampa hospital. “The families involved are still reeling from the shock. I think this thing shook them to their very roots.”

On the night of April 27, 1991, five young men--the sons of prominent Tampa families--met a 23-year-old woman in a bar, “dosed” her with LSD and subjected her to a night of abuse in the home of James F. Urbanski, former president of the Tampa Tribune.

After a highly publicized trial, Carl J. Allison, 27, was convicted in March of intent to deliver LSD and evidence tampering, both felonies, as well as a misdemeanor charge of petty theft (View, March 23). He was acquitted of three sexual battery charges. In July, he was sentenced to eight months in county jail and eight years’ probation, including 18 months of house arrest.

Mark Urbanski, James Urbanski’s 25-year-old son, pleaded guilty to evidence tampering, testified against Allison and received six years’ probation. He remains in an alcohol rehabilitation center in New York. The three other men involved were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony.

Allison was released from jail Nov. 2, after serving only about three months. His attorney, Norman Cannella, says Allison was “a model prisoner.” He is under house arrest in his apartment and is job hunting, Cannella says.

The attorney says Allison, a college dropout, has told him he might want to become a lawyer. “I don’t think he was an aberrant member of society prior to this case,” Cannella notes, adding: “The reason this case has drawn so much attention is because of the unusual sexual behavior. But it’s the social mores (of today’s youth), good or bad. My client was quite honestly almost crucified by this.”

As for the woman involved in the case, her attorney, Barry Cohen, says he plans to file a civil suit asking for damages of more than $1 million from the Urbanskis’ insurance company.