Riverhead, NY - April 19, 2016 - A Middle Island man who sexually assaulted a female taxi driver last December will be sentenced tomorrow in Riverhead, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.

Francisco Barrios pleaded guilty on March 21 to Rape in the First Degree.

On December 1, 2015 a female taxi driver picked up Barrios at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson. During the trip, Barrios beat and strangled the woman causing her to crash the taxi into a fence on Mount Sinai-Coram Road in Mount Sinai.  The defendant then pulled the driver into the back seat and raped her.

Barrios will be sentenced to 24 years’ incarceration and 20 years post release supervision by Judge Barbara Kahn. The court calendar will be called at 9:30 am.

Be advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.