U.S. Citizen Gets Four Years In Jail In Kyrgyzstan

A U.S. citizen has been sentenced to four years in jail in Kyrgyzstan.

The Sverdlov District Court in Bishkek told RFE/RL on June 2 that Brandon Cornelius, a U.S. citizen born in 1985 in Monterrey, California, was found guilty of hooliganism.

Cornelius, an employee of the U.S. military transit center at the Manas International Airport near Bishkek, was arrested in March after police said he assaulted a Kyrgyz police officer.

The officer reportedly tried to question Cornelius about a complaint filed by a local woman.

The woman accused Cornelius of trying to force her to have sex for money.

Police said that Cornelius was drunk, broke a desk in the police station, and tore the insignia from a police officer's uniform.

There has been no U.S. comment to Cornelius's conviction and sentencing.