OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma City, Okla., man was sentenced Dec. 17, 2020, to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release in the Western District of Oklahoma, for assaulting two neighbors inside their apartment in Okinawa, Japan, while working for the U.S. Armed Forces overseas as a civilian engineer.
Brendan Rowin Figuly, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones for two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
The investigation was conducted by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing of the Western District of Oklahoma, and AFOSI Commander Brig. Gen. Terry L. Bullard, made the announcement.
According to admissions during the plea hearing, Figuly was living in Okinawa, Japan, and working for the U.S. Armed Forces as a civilian engineer at Kadena Air Base. On April 11, 2020, Figuly was living in a multi-unit apartment building off-base. That afternoon, he entered the apartment of a female neighbor, E.M., armed with a box cutter knife, and demanded to know the whereabouts of their landlord.
Figuly stated he wanted to kill the landlord, but instead attacked E.M., strangling her until she fell unconscious, cutting her fingers with a knife, and striking her in the face with a baking dish. When she regained consciousness, E.M. fled to her apartment balcony, and Figuly pursued her, breaking the balcony door in the process. E.M.’s husband J.M. then entered the apartment, at which point Figuly threatened to kill J.M. Figuly also assaulted J.M. with the box cutter knife, before J.M. and a neighbor could subdue him.
The prosecution was handled by Trial Attorney Mona Sahaf of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Harley of the Western District of Oklahoma.