MADISON, Miss. (WJTV) – A man, who was in the United States illegally, pled guilty to one count of sexual battery in Madison County Circuit Court.

Three months after the crime, the Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Office announced that Jose “Rigo” Rigoberto Mejia-Cubias was sentenced on April 28, 2025, to 25 years in prison without the possibility of early release or parole.

Madison police responded to a call around 1:00 a.m. on January 30, 2025, about a woman who had been raped at Fernando’s. The caller stated that she had gone to the restaurant the night before and sat at the bar.

According to investigators, the woman indicated that her assailant was the bartender. She said she did not remember everything that happened, but she woke up on the floor of the bar area around midnight, left the premises and called police.

The District Attorney’s Office said the owners of Fernando’s assisted law enforcement by providing the surveillance footage from the restaurant that showed the female victim sitting in the bar area after the restaurant closed speaking with the bartender. Prosecutors said the woman then passed out, and the bartender moved her from a barstool to the floor. They said he proceeded to have sexual intercourse with the victim while she was unconscious.

Cubias was indicted four days later, on February 3, 2025, for sexual battery of a physically helpless person. Law enforcement also determined he was an El Salvadoran immigrant, who was in the country illegally, and alerted federal authorities of his immigration status.

Cubias is still facing pending charges for illegal entry into the United States. He was previously deported in 2010.