Terry L. Briggs, also known locally by the name Terry L. Thomas, was sentenced to a life term of imprisonment in the state penitentiary Wednesday for an April 2011 rape.

Briggs, 51, was convicted of grabbing a victim from behind and pulling her under a breezeway where he choked, hit and raped her. She was walking home from the Obama Club, according to information she gave the District Attorney’s office.

Two women heard the victim’s screams and took her to the Troy Police Department.

Troy Police Sgt. Benny Scarbrough said the incident happened between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Lake Avenue in Troy on April 16, 2011. Briggs was arrested on May 17, 2011 and indicted by a grand jury in November of the same year. He was found guilty by a Pike County jury on March 15 of Rape in the First Degree.

District Attorney Tom Anderson said he was pleased to see a strong sentence from Circuit Judge Shannon Clark.

Anderson said the sentence “is justice served and a message to would-be offenders that this will not be tolerated in Pike County. Anyone who perpetrates such a crime in the 12th Circuit is going to spend many, many years behind bars.”

Assistant District Attorney Scherryl Harrison prosecuted the case and Assistant District Attorney Jeff Moore helped secure the sentence at the May 9 hearing.