LAWRENCE – A Lynn construction worker about to go on trial for kidnapping and raping a woman in an apartment on Commercial Street three years ago, opted instead to plead guilty just before opening statements rather than face a jury of his peers.Modesto Lopez-Miranda, 47, formerly of 98 Henry St., Lynn, changed his plea from innocent to guilty Thursday at mid-noon in Lawrence Superior Court to charges of kidnapping and aggravated rape.He was sentenced to serve not less than eight years and not more than 10 years in state prison by Judge Timothy Q. Feeley.A 14-person jury had been selected involving a two-day process to sit on the trial and decide his fate. However, just when opening statements were about to commence from the prosecution and defense, Lopez-Miranda decided to negotiate a deal and confess.The charges arise out of an incident in the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2007.According to the victim, who is now 37 and was living on Eastern Avenue at the time, she decided shortly before 5 a.m. to go looking to borrow money for cigarettes to buy. She was walking down near a 7-Eleven Store, when Lopez-Miranda offered to give her a ride. She got into the Jeep, which had two other unidentified males in the back seat, and was driven to 60 Commercial St., where she said she was forcibly dragged to a second-floor apartment.She told authorities she was pushed onto a mattress, held down and was raped by Lopez-Miranda and three other unidentified males.Following the incident she fled from the apartment and reported it to authorities.She described one of her attackers as having a very distinct pattern of rolls in the back of his head and that he also had a rough hand that was deformed.Investigators went back to the scene of the crime and found Lopez-Miranda inside and arrested him the next day. The description provided by the victim matched his profile.The other three individuals involved in the incident still remain unidentified today, said Assistant District Attorney Michael Patten.Although the victim was present during the trial and was willing to testify, she chose not to make a statement before the court after Lopez-Miranda confessed, Patten said.In asking the judge to adopt the recommendation, defense lawyer Kirk Bransfield said it was agreed and was based on the circumstances of the case.Lopez-Miranda, who is a Guatemalan national, will be deported back to his native country after he completes his term of incarceration in state prison, according to Patten.Lopez-Miranda was indicted by a grand jury in December of 2007 and has been held in lieu of bail since being arraigned.The judge credited Lopez-Miranda 1,051 days towards his term of incarceration.