District Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Intimate Partner Violence and Obstructing Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 11, 2023

            WASHINGTON – Brandon Brown, 33, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to a 10-year prison term for strangling his ex-girlfriend and then trying to dissuade her from participating in the pending criminal investigation, announced U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves announced and Interim Chief Ashan Benedict, of the Metropolitan Police Department. Brown pleaded guilty, on March 3, 2023, to one count of aggravated assault, and one count of obstructing justice.

            According to the government’s evidence, on April 19, 2022, Brown and his on-again, off-again intimate partner got into an argument about whether they had been cheating on each other. During the argument, the defendant strangled his partner with sufficient force that she “blacked out.” Brown’s actions caused the defendant to lose her vision and become unconscious, creating a grave risk of death. A week later, despite being held in custody, Brown contacted his partner from the D.C. Jail to try and persuade her not to come to court or participate in the criminal investigation.  

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Interim Chief Benedict commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Sexual Assault Unit. She acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Tracey Hawkins, Paralegal Specialists Tiffany Fogle and Garcia Clarke, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dana Joseph and Robert Platt, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Lee, who investigated and prosecuted the case.