A 56-year-old man who was charged with one count of Aggravated Rape and one count of Rape in Murfreesboro this past August, recently appeared before the courts to face the charges.

In August of last year, Ocie Lee Bryant was arrested shortly after Murfreesboro Police opened a criminal investigation on him in July of 2022. Evidently, the charges were tied to an incident that occurred two years prior to his arrest in February of 2020. Bryant, who is from Bartow, Florida, was accused of raping a total stranger in Murfreesboro.

Before the case made it to trial, which was scheduled to take place this month, Bryant plead guilty to the lesser offenses of Attempted Aggravated Rape and Attempted Aggravated Sexual Assault / Battery. Bryant was sentenced to 8-years in prison followed by 8-years of probation. He is also required to be registered as a sex offender. Bryant is classified as a “Violent” offender. A “Violent sexual offender” is a person who has been convicted in this state of committing a “Violent sexual offense.”

Currently, the 56-year-old is being held at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center in Murfreesboro. He could be transferred to a Tennessee Department of Corrections facility in the near future, where he coould remain for the next 8-years. He will be almost 64 when his first sentence of 8-years comes to a close in 2031. Upon the completion of his 8-years of probation, Bryant will be about 72-years-old.

Under his negotiated plea agreement, Bryant is not subject to Judicial Diversion, which means the conviction cannot be expunged from his record. He is however eligible for release after serving a minimum of 30% of his sentence behind bars, which equals 2.4-years of his first sentence. However, he forgoes that eligibility if he is arrested and convicted of any felony that’s considered to be a Class A misdemeanor or greater.