Two former Los Angeles Police Department officers from the Hollywood Division were sentenced on Feb. 26 to 25-year prison terms for raping four women.

James Nichols, 46, and Luis Valenzuela, 45, pleaded no contest to two counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation. In addition to the prison sentences, Nichols and Valenzuela were ordered to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.

The rapes occurred from 2008 to 2011. Nichols and Valenzuela picked up women in an unmarked police vehicle. The victims allegedly committed narcotics offenses or were involved in other crimes. The officers threatened the victims with arrest or prosecution if they did not have sex with them.

The defendants allegedly raped the women at different locations, including in their police vehicle, according to prosecutors. Most, but not all, of the sexual assaults occurred while the officers were on duty, according to prosecutors.

Evidence presented during trial showed one officer sometimes stood outside the vehicle and acted as a lookout while the other had sex with the victims. The women were 19 to 34 years old when the crimes occurred.

The former officers faced multiple counts of sexual assault, including forcible rape, rape under color of authority, oral copulation under color of authority and oral copulation by force. Valenzuela was additionally charged with one count of assault with a firearm for allegedly pointing a gun at one of the victims. Most of those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement in which they pleaded guilty and accepted 25-year sentences.

The former officers were taken out of the field in 2013 after the victims reported they were sexually assaulted. Nichols and Valenzuela were formally arrested and charged in February 2016 and had been in custody ever since.

The LAPD did not comment on the sentencing, but personnel at the LAPD’s Wilshire Division tweeted a message shortly after it was announced.

“Absolutely shameful,” the tweet read. “These [two] convicts don’t represent what we stand for. We will never tolerate our officers committing criminal acts against the community!”