Former UW-Madison student Alec Cook pleaded guilty to five criminal charges Wednesday as a part of a plea deal agreed to earlier in the week.
The charges were three counts of third degree sexual assault, one count of strangulation and suffocation and one count of stalking. All five charges span five separate incidents, including the first reported incident on Oct. 12, 2016.
One of the charges of third degree sexual assault was amended from a second degree charge with use of force.
As a part of the deal, the remaining charges are dismissed, however a judge can consider them at Cook’s sentencing hearing in three months. The maximum prison sentence Cook could face would be 39 and a half years in prison. He would also become a registered sex offender.
The deal was agreed to on Monday, one week before Cook was scheduled to begin his first of seven trials in Jefferson County.
Prior to the agreement, Cook faced 21 charges, 12 of which were sexual assault. Six of those 12 included use of force.
The date for a sentencing hearing has not yet been determined.
