An illegal immigrant has been sentenced after being accused of raping a woman in a local restaurant.
According to the Madison and Rankin County District Attorney’s Offices, Jose “Rigo” Rigoberto Mejia-Cubias, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual battery in Madison County Circuit Court on Monday.
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with no option of early release or parole.
Around 1 a.m. on January 30, the Madison Police Department responded to a female caller who claimed she had been raped at Fernando’s.
The caller stated that she had visited the restaurant the night before and sat at the bar and that her assailant was the bartender who provided all of her drinks during the evening.
According to a release, she informed investigators she didn’t recall everything that transpired but woke up on the bar floor around midnight, left the premises, and phoned police.
The owners of Fernando’s aided law enforcement by immediately providing surveillance footage from the restaurant, which showed the female victim sitting in the bar area after the restaurant closed, speaking with the bartender moments before being moved to the floor and raped.
The district attorney’s office also indicated that she was unconscious at the time of the occurrence.
Cubias was indicted four days later, on February 3, for sexual battery on a physically unable person.
Law enforcement also determined that he was an illegal El Salvadoran immigrant and notified federal officials about his immigration status.
Cubias is still facing charges for illegally entering the United States.
He was already deported in 2010.
