OKEECHOBEE — Brent Pignataro was sentenced to two years and six months in state prison after pleading no contest to charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery. Pignataro was arrested in July 2020 after he entered someone’s home and hit him.

Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Huffman responded to a call regarding the incident at approximately 5:15 p.m. The complainant told him he had been sitting on a chair in his bedroom, eating a hotdog and drinking an alcoholic beverage when Pignataro entered his room unannounced and demanded $30 he said the complainant owed him. When the complainant told Pignataro he did not have the money but could give him $10, Pignataro lunged at him and put both hands around the man’s neck, causing him to fall over backward in the chair and strike his head on the wall.

Pignataro had a knife in his hand but did not use it, retreating from the residence and getting into a white truck driven by a woman. As the vehicle left, it backed into several small trees on the property.

Pignataro was arrested later that evening.

At the time of his arrest, a charge of burglary was included, but it was later dropped.