An illegal immigrant who was living in the Mandeville area is now facing life in prison after 22nd Judicial Judge Allison Penzato found him guilty of aggravated rape Thursday night.

After deliberating for approximately three and a half hours, the jury returned with a guilty verdict for 29-year-old Danis Caballero, but found his former roommate, 32-year-old Dago Mencias, not guilty of the same crime.

According to Rick Wood, spokesman for District Attorney Walter Reed, the two men, who were both living in the country illegally, were residing in a Mandeville-area trailer park when the incident occurred in November 2005. Wood said a group of young people was hanging outside the two men’s trailer, when the victim went inside and was reportedly gang raped.

DNA evidence at the scene linked Caballero to the rape, and the jury found him guilty at approximately 9 p.m. Thursday after a three-day trial.

He is set to be sentenced on Dec. 4.

Aggravated rape carries a mandatory life in prison without the benefit of parole.

Wood said, the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove Mencias was present when the rape occurred.

“He was originally thought to be there, but when it went to trail the victim could not clearly identify him,” Wood said.

He added that Mencias was originally linked to the crime because he lived at the residence and investigators found some DNA evidence supporting he was home when the rape occurred, but Wood said at the trial the evidence proved to be weak and could have been attributed to the fact that he was in the home after the crime occurred.

However, since he is an illegal immigrant, he was not released and will likely be deported back to Hondurus.