Bilguun Enkhbayar ’27, a 22-year-old former Cornell student, was sentenced on Wednesday to eight years in prison for first-degree rape and eight years for second-degree burglary, according to Tompkins County Court records obtained by The Sun.
The sentences will run concurrently, meaning Enkhbayar will serve a maximum of eight years in prison.
Enkhbayar was found guilty in November of breaking into a female student’s dormitory room with “the intent to commit a crime therein and engaging in vaginal sexual contact with another person who was incapable of consent,” according to an November press release by District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.
Rape in the first degree, the most serious classification of rape in New York state, carries a maximum sentence of 25 years and a minimum of five.
Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 15 years for Enkhbayar’s rape charge, and 10 years for the burglary charge, because of “the significant and immeasurable trauma to the victim and the defendant’s lack of remorse or acceptance of responsibility for his actions,” according to an email statement sent to The Sun by Van Houten.
The former student was also sentenced to 10 years of post-release supervision, a component required by The Sentencing Reform Act of 1998, which means Enkhbayar will need to commit no new crimes and meet court-imposed responsibilities during the 10 years.
Specifically, Enkhbayar was found guilty of rape in the first-degree and burglary in the second-degree after a week-long jury trial that culminated on Nov. 24. Enkhbayar was arrested in September 2024 after a grand jury indicted him.
Enkhbayar, a Mongolian international student, attended the prestigious preparatory school Tomujin Alternative School and took two gap years before attending Cornell with a $328,000 scholarship.
Enkhbayar’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Atticus Johnson is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a senior writer for the News department and can be reached at ajohnson@cornellsun.com.
