A Mexican national was sentenced after pleading guilty to robbing and sexually abusing the body of a man who died on a subway car; ICE has lodged a detainer seeking his removal after his prison term
A man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with the robbery and sexual abuse of the body of a man who had died aboard a New York City subway, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS said Felix Jeronimo-Rojas, a Mexican national, was sentenced on June 17, 2026, after pleading guilty in the case. According to local reporting cited by the agency, the deceased was 37-year-old Jorge Gonzalez, who boarded an R train, lost consciousness, and died on the subway in April 2025. The agency said Jeronimo-Rojas later boarded the same car and assaulted and robbed the body before leaving.
DHS said Jeronimo-Rojas turned himself in about three weeks after the incident, after surveillance footage was circulated, and was charged with rape and grand larceny. The agency said ICE lodged a detainer for him on April 30, 2025.
According to DHS, Jeronimo-Rojas had previously entered the country illegally multiple times in 1998 and 1999, returning to Mexico each time after being encountered by Border Patrol, before entering again at an unknown later date.
In a statement, Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis called on Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York officials to hold Jeronimo-Rojas for ICE rather than release him after his prison term, criticizing the state’s detainer policies.
A Dispute Over Detainers
DHS said the case is part of a broader disagreement over New York’s handling of ICE detainers. The agency said that, as of December 1, 2025, New York jurisdictions’ failure to honor detainers had resulted in the release of nearly 7,000 people it described as criminal illegal aliens since January 20, and that roughly 7,100 more in New York custody have active detainers. Those figures are DHS’s own and were not independently verified.
