1TOMS RIVER, N.J. – An illegal alien who fled the state after violently attacking a woman during the summer of 2022 will spend the next decade behind bars following his sentencing in Ocean County Superior Court.

Judge Dina M. Vicari handed down a ten-year state prison sentence to Juan Santiago-Rojas , 31, of Point Pleasant Borough, on Thursday for attempted murder stemming from a brutal assault that left a woman unconscious inside her home more than three years ago. Under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, Santiago-Rojas must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Rojas has two immigration detainers lodged against him by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Authorities said the assault occurred on August 22, 2022, when Point Pleasant B

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