Rodrigo Pineda Gomez, Attempted Voluntary Manslaughter, Colorado 2019
A Colorado man has been sentenced to prison for his role in an attack on three US Air Force airmen on a military base in Japan.
Rodrigo Pineda Gomez, 44, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release by U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr.
The sentence follows an April 2019 jury verdict finding Gomez guilty of various charges stemming from the assault, including one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts of assault by striking, beating, or wounding, one count of resisting a federal officer, and one count of making a false statement to law enforcement.
According to the superseding indictment and evidence presented at trial, on December 31, 2016, on Misawa Air Base in Japan, the defendants, Rodrigo Gomez and his son, Miguel Gomez, assaulted three U.S. Air Force airmen.
During the assault, defendant Rodrigo Gomez attempted to kill one of the airmen by attempting to snap his neck and stomping on his head repeatedly while he was on the ground. He subsequently resisted arrest after law enforcement arrived, and then later made a false statement about the incident.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Trial Attorney Frank Rangoussis of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Williams of the Eastern District of Arkansas are prosecuting the case.
Gomez is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence followed by one year of supervised release.
This is a case of violence on a US military base and will be categorized under Violent Crime in our crime database.
Key Facts
- State: Colorado
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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