An Everett man who was “immersed in a thuggish criminal lifestyle” avoided a possible lengthy prison term for rape in 2004 when the victim refused to testify about an alleged brutal kidnapping, beating and sexual assault.

Instead, he served just a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to the less-serious crime of unlawful imprisonment.

But Michael Anthony Linear, 24, couldn’t escape a jury’s verdict for abrutal rape in December, just weeks after he finished serving that sentence.

On Friday, Linear was sentenced to 261/2 years in prison for therape. A jury convicted Linear of first-degree rape, third-degree rape and auto theft Sept. 21. Linear also pleaded guilty to not registering as a sex offender.

Deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson asked Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Gerald Knight for the top end of the sentencing range, and he got it.

Matheson said from the rape and Linear’s long criminal history, it’s apparent that the defendant is a “career criminal.”

Past convictions for drug offenses and sexual assault go back to 1995, Matheson said.

“It’s apparent that (Linear) was completely immersed in a thuggish criminal lifestyle, a lifestyle completely devoid of any redeeming aspects.” Matheson wrote in court papers. “His behavior was brutish and violent.”

Everett defense attorney Guss Markwell agreed that his client had acted badly when he attacked an acquaintance.

“He knows the damage he has caused. He knows the pain he has caused,” Markwell said.

In asking for just a 20-year sentence, Markwell described Linear as a jovial person in his contacts, and said that his client has redeeming qualities. The lawyer said Linear wants treatment for drugs and to make something of himself with opportunities he will have in prison.

In sentencing Linear to the high end of the sentencing range, Knight said he didn’t hear anything redeeming in the trial’s evidence.

All rapes are bad, Knight said, but Linear’s attacks were among the worst he’s seen.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.