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GREENSBORO — The man accused in a series of sexual assaults and burglaries near the UNCG campus pleaded guilty in Guilford County Superior Court on Thursday and will serve a minimum of 35 years in state prison.

Anthony Jermaine Powell, 38, pleaded guilty to a series of three sexual assaults and burglaries that span 10 months in 2002-03 near the UNCG campus, said Howard Neumann, Guilford County assistant district attorney.

Chief Superior Court Judge Catherine Eagles sentenced Powell to a minimum of 420 months in prison, with a maximum sentence of 532 months, or just over 44 years.

Upon his release, Powell will be subject to lifetime monitoring as a registered sex offender, Neumann said.

In most of the attacks, Powell entered through an unlocked door or window and threatened his victims with a gun or knife. The attacks began in April 2002 and targeted mainly UNCG students within a two-mile radius of campus.

While the attacks were happening, the UNCG community was fraught with tension.

The campus and surrounding area were plastered with sketches of the suspect, and marches, vigils and police patrols became a regular part of life. Three detectives and seven officers worked on the case full time.

The department worked with the State Bureau of Investigation to create a profile of the suspect based on victim’s accounts and similarities in the crimes.

The case went cold until last summer after Greensboro police had resubmitted DNA evidence case to a statewide database. A federal grant received in January 2008 allowed the department to pay for extra shifts for detectives to work on cold cases.

Powell had been serving a 10-month sentence in state prison on a 2006 breaking-and-entering charge in Alamance County. Like all convicted felons, he was required to be entered into the DNA database.

Police confirmed their match in August, and Powell was taken in to face charges that ultimately led to Thursday’s plea.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com