Brandy Stephanus has been sentenced to ten years in prison for stabbing a co-worker to death in a fight at their Yigo barracks last year.
He was sentenced after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Stephanus hung his head low, only raising it to tell the court his version of the events that transpired when he stabbed Randy Tomei with a knife.
“I didn’t think I was going to do that, what happened. I feel sorry for the family… he continued I am not a great person to do that,” he said.
Stephanus told Superior Court Judge Michael Bordallo that the reason it happened was because he was drunk. They had an argument and Tomei followed him to his door blocking it. It was then that he said he “poked” Tomei with the knife.
“I’m guilty for that,” he said.
Stephanus took a deal with the government, pleading guilty to the lesser included charge of manslaughter as a first-degree felony.
While the government asked for 12 years and the defense requested an 8 years prison sentence, Judge Bordallo made the decision to meet them in the middle.
“Obviously we prefer the eight years but I believe the judge weighed out all the factors presented to the court this morning so right now we feel the sentence was fair but obviously we will be speaking to the client soon,” defense attorney William Jones said.
Stephanus received 10 years incarceration with credit for time served.
To date, he has served 377 days and for the remainder of his sentence, he will be recommended to take part in an alcohol treatment rehabilitation program.
Following his incarceration, he will be placed on a 5-year supervised release.
Jones says his client is not a U.S. citizen. In light of this, he could face deportation for the offense.
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