7 Accept Plea Deals in Isla Vista Assault

Seven young men charged in the videotaped assault of a 19-year-old college student in Isla Vista accepted plea deals that will significantly reduce their punishment.

Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa, who will sentence the men in June, has options ranging from probation to three years in prison. If convicted on the felony charges that were filed, they could have faced up to six years in prison.

A videotape of the September 2000 attack showed the defendants inside an apartment offering the former Santa Barbara City College freshman shots of rum and writing on his naked body. One of the men urinated on the man as he lay on the floor in a laundry area and the group later placed garbage on the unconscious student while he was sprawled on a couch in the street.