Bellevue man sentenced to prison for impersonating cop

A Bellevue man who impersonated a police officer to force two young women to have sex with him last year was sentenced Friday to nine years to life in prison.

Sasidhar Vanapalli pleaded guilty last month to second-degree rape, first-degree extortion and first-degree criminal impersonation.

Because the charges involved sex crimes, he will face a parole board at the end of the minimum sentence of about nine years and could remain behind bars indefinitely if determined to be a dangerous sex offender.

Vanapalli, 28, was arrested last year after he contacted two women, ages 18 and 19, through Craigslist and intimidated them into sex by saying he was a cop, pointing a gun at them and showing a badge, prosecutors said.

Vanapalli told one of the women that he could keep her out of jail if she had sex with him weekly, according to court documents filed in King County Superior Court.

When Bellevue police arrested Vanapalli on Oct. 20, 2008, they found a badge, homemade fake police identification, handcuffs and a pistol in his apartment.

Vanapalli tearfully pleaded for mercy. He cited his upbringing in an educated family and his accomplishments as a Microsoft employee, a scholar and a table-tennis champion in India.

In meting out the sentence, which was between the eight years proposed by the defense and 10 years requested by prosecutors, Judge Richard Eadie said Vanapalli was probably smart enough to have learned his lesson.

But by the same token, the judge said, he should have known what he was doing was wrong.

Because he is not a citizen, Vanapalli will be deported as soon as the state Department of Corrections is through with him, said his attorney John Henry Browne.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com