ATHENS — A new trial date has been set in a case against a Gallipolis man accused of raping an Ohio University student in 2011.

Levi D. Canterbury, 22, is scheduled to appear before a jury in the Athens County Common Pleas Court on March 19 for the first day of a jury trial.

Ohio University police obtained a warrant for Canterbury’s arrest in the fall of 2011 following a report of an alleged rape that reportedly occurred on September 15, 2011.

The defendant is alleged to have picked up a female Ohio University student, driven her to a parking lot and raped her in his car.

As previously reported, Canterbury is not an Ohio University student and was arrested on the warrant in El Paso, Texas, where he was deployed with his National Guard unit.

The arrested came after an intensive investigation led by Ohio University police with the assistance of the Athens Police Department, Gallipolis police and fire departments, the office of Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn, and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

Shortly after the suspect was located, he was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal’s service with the assistance of the El Paso Sheriff’s Office and the Criminal Investigation Department at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Canterbury’s bond was later set at $200,000, and he was extradited back to Athens County, Ohio, where he was booked into the Southeastern Regional Jail in Nelsonville on October 11, 2011.

An indictment was filed with the Athens County Common Pleas court in mid-October 2011 and the defendant was arraigned on October 19, 2011, and charged with two counts of rape.

Canterbury pleaded not guilty, and his bond was continued at $200,000.

The jury trial in this case was later continued from September 25 to December 11-21, 2012, according to the Athens County Clerk of Court’s online docket.

On the date of trial, December 11 of last year, the court was informed that a plea agreement had been reached in this case, and a jury was not seated due to the proposed plea change hearing.

However, an official with Common Pleas Judge Alan Goldsberry’s office later reported that Canterbury had failed to enter a plea on December 11 and a new trial would be set by the court in early 2013.

On Wednesday, an official with the clerk of courts office reported that a new trial date had been set for March 19. Additionally, two weeks have been set aside for the trial in the Athens County Common Pleas Courtroom.

The defendant is being represented in this case by Gallipolis defense attorney William Eachus.

He is currently being held in the Southeastern Regional Jail.