Malambo Sentenced to 76 Months in Prison

On November 3, Mainza Malambo was sentenced to 76 months in prison after being found guilty by a jury on two counts of criminal sexual conduct, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Monday. In a week-long trial, the State presented evidence that Malambo, 27, assaulted a victim twice in the early morning hours of September 25, 2021. The first assault took place while the victim was physically helpless.

"I want to thank our prosecution team for their hard work in obtaining this guilty verdict," County Attorney Freeman said. "Cases like this are the reason we fought so hard for changes to our criminal sexual conduct laws at the legislature. We will continue to fight to protect victims of sexual assault."

During sentencing, the victim told the court, “Being a victim of sexual assault has affected my entire life. However, the fact that we are here today shows me that Justice has been served...I feel protected.”

This is one of the first cases successfully prosecuted under the new criminal sexual conduct laws passed by the legislature in 2021.