GREENFIELD — A Springfield man convicted of 20 charges stemming from a prolonged pattern of physical and sexual violence against his former intimate partner was sentenced on Friday to 16 to 18 years in state prison.
Branden Eugenio’s incarceration will be followed by five years of supervised probation, as ordered by Judge Jane Mulqueen.
A Franklin County Superior Court jury last month convicted Eugenio, a resident of the Springfield village of Indian Orchard, on four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of rape, two counts of assault and battery on a family or household member, three counts of strangulation, two counts of witness intimidation, two counts of violation of an abuse prevention order, and single counts of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, suffocation, threatening to commit a crime and stalking.
The convictions will also require Eugenio to register as a sex offender.
Eugenio’s crimes occurred from 2020 through 2024 and included incidents that took place while the couple lived in Shutesbury. He originally faced 29 charges, and was found not guilty of one count of kidnapping and two counts each of rape, aggravated rape, strangulation, and assault and battery on a family or household member.
Assistant District Attorneys Jillian Parent and Sandra Staub prosecuted the case, with assistance from paralegal Alyssa Stankowski and Victim Witness Advocate Kim Devine. Eugenio was represented by defense attorneys Daniel Kelly and Daniel Hagan.
“The defendant engaged in a pattern of abuse that was severe, life-threatening and abhorrent,” Parent said in a statement. “Intimate partner violence is often a precursor to lethal violence, and our office remains committed to prosecuting these cases aggressively to stop the cycle of abuse before it’s too late.”
During Eugenio’s arraignment in Superior Court in August 2024, Parent said he raped his intimate partner after she denied a request for sex and later choked her while she was driving him to work. According to Parent, Eugenio also threatened to kill the woman, who stopped the vehicle and called 911 after locking herself in a public bathroom. Responding officers reported her clothes were ripped and her appearance was disheveled.
Parent told the court in 2024 that the survivor now deals with chronic headaches and issues with speech and sight after she sustained head trauma when Eugenio dragged her out of a bathroom to sexually assault her. Eugenio also allegedly once struck the woman so violently while she was pregnant that she needed an emergency cesarean section, leading to the child’s premature birth.
