A New York court has sentenced a 44-year-old man, Felix Rojas, to five years in prison for sexually abusing the body of a deceased man aboard a Manhattan subway train.
Rojas was sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in connection with the incident involving Jorge Gonzalez, 37, who had died after losing consciousness on an R train in April 2025, Sky News Australia reports.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage showed Rojas targeting Gonzalez after noticing he was unresponsive. Court documents indicated that Rojas also searched the victim’s pockets during the incident.
Authorities said Rojas, a Brooklyn resident, surrendered to police about three weeks later after identifying himself from surveillance images released during the investigation. He reportedly denied committing the offence when questioned by investigators.
In addition to the prison term, the court ordered that Rojas be placed under 15 years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.
According to reports, immigration authorities said Rojas is a Mexican national who had previously attempted to enter the United States unlawfully on multiple occasions.
The victim, Gonzalez, had lived in the United States for nearly two decades and worked various jobs to support family members in Mexico.
Speaking after the sentencing, family members described him as a devoted father and hardworking man who took on construction, restaurant and service jobs to provide for his loved ones.
The case drew widespread attention in the United States because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the crime and the questions it raised about safety and monitoring within New York City’s transit system.
