Former Milwaukee restauranteur sentenced to 20 years in prison

A former co-owner of a Lower East Side restaurant is going to spend 20 years in prison. A jury today convicting Kevin Lopez, or I should say in September convicted him of sexual assaulting a woman and a girl. As Bill Miston explained, Lopez maintains his innocence at his sentencing today. I still claim my innocence, but I can understand this whole process has been heavy on them. 37-year-old Kevin Lopez spoke to the court after a jury convicted him in September of three counts of sexual assault related to the March 2024 assault of a minor and her sister who was drunk and unconscious. Lopez and a friend were out at a bar when they picked up two women and later went to the restaurant Lopez co-owned with his mother along with one of the women's 14-year-old sister. The group drank at the closed restaurant until 4 a.m. before going to a woman's That's where prosecutors say Lopez assaulted one woman and then assaulted her sister. I don't think the jury's verdict reflects the actual circumstances of what occurred that night. Lopez's defense attorney said he plans on appealing the case and noted inconsistencies in the victim's testimony and evidence of the victim's sexual and mental health not allowed at trial. Now that this party is behind us, we can learn to move forward from here. This next part will be difficult. Not just for me, but for my loved ones. I'm not judging you as the morality police, but you made all kinds of bad decisions. The judge said there are always inconsistencies in trials, but he can't ignore a jury's result. That the father of four, business owner, and otherwise law-abiding person suffering the consequences from that night. One dumb decision. Over the course of sometimes minutes or hours or one day or one incident can change the trajectory of one's life. Lopez will spend 20 years in prison and 12 years on extended supervision. However, Lopez, who is in the country illegally, could face deportation once his time in prison is complete. There were or are immigration issues. That was another damn good reason not to be at four or five in the morning drinking with at least one underage person. In the establishment that you own. In Milwaukee, Bill Winston, Fox 6 News.