AUBURN — A Lewiston man who accused former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenage boy.

Zach Tomaselli pleaded guilty today to four counts under a plea agreement his lawyer says caps his sentence at 3½ years in prison. Defense lawyer Justin Leary says Tomaselli will be free on bail until his February sentencing.

The 23-year-old Tomaselli was due in court for a bail revocation hearing. Instead he pleaded guilty to gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and two other counts.

Leary says Tomaselli wanted to take responsibility “and that’s a fair way to resolve it.”

Tomaselli is one of four men to level sexual-abuse accusations against Fine.

Fine has denied wrongdoing. He was fired by the upstate New York school.

 

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