Charges will be dropped against a man accused of raping a woman in July while awaiting trial for failure to register as a sex offender.

Damien Dinelli, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of failure to register as a sex offender on Friday. He is awaiting sentencing on another failure-to-register case filed in 2014.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed to recommend a two-year suspended sentence that will run concurrent with whatever sentence is imposed in the previous failure-to-register case.

Dinelli is set to be sentenced Dec. 17.

Flathead District Court Judge David Ortley reminded Dinelli that he is not bound to follow the plea agreement and Dinelli could ultimately receive five years in Montana State Prison for each count of failing to register.

As part of the agreement, defense and prosecution attorneys agreed to dismiss a pending charge of sexual intercourse without consent against Dinelli. The case will be dismissed with prejudice, which means that prosecutors can bring it before the court again at a future date if Dinelli does not follow through with conditions of his sentence.

Dinelli was accused of drugging and raping a 20-year-old woman. He has a prior conviction for child molestation in 1996 out of Washington state.

Dinelli’s public defender Lane Bennett asked that Dinelli be released from custody until sentencing, but because of time constraints with another case, Ortley was not ready to hear arguments on the release matter.

Bennett and prosecutor John Donovan said that they would see if they could negotiate an appropriate release that Ortley could sign.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.