A man whose rape convictions were overturned by the state high court pleaded no contest to three charges and will serve a minimum 11-year prison term instead of the previous minimum term of 20 years.

Anthony Veach, 45, accepted a plea offer from Macomb County prosecutors Monday in circuit court by pleading to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for his assaults of a minor female relative, according to court records. He was convicted in 2017 of seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for the assaults in Warren, Eastpointe and Sterling Heights from March 2015 to July 2016 when the girl was 14 and 15 years old.

The resolution means Veach will serve at least another 3-1/3 years behind bars.

The jail term under the plea is 2-½ years less than a plea offer of 13-½ to 25 years Veach rejected last January. It’s a 90% reduction of the original minimum term of 20 years; the maximum term of 25 years is less than half the previous maximum term of 60 years.

Veach is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 27 by Macomb Circuit Judge Joseph Toia.

A trial was scheduled to start next week.

The state Supreme Court reversed the jury convictions in 2023 because Toia didn’t provide an adequate reason for closing the courtroom during the victim’s testimony. The closure violated Veach’s right to a public trial, justices said.

Macomb prosecutors’ attempt to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected in April 2024 by the high court.

At the trial, Toia closed the courtroom to the public upon the request of Macomb prosecutors who wanted to make it less difficult for the victim to testify and said some family members couldn’t attend because they were witnesses in the case and were being sequestered from the courtroom. The defense attorney objected.

Toia ruled on the basis three district court judges at Veach’s district court preliminary examinations closed their courtrooms.