Former Penn State executive pleads guilty to assault, set to spend at least 3 months in jail
A former Penn State executive pleaded guilty Monday to assault for attacking a woman during an argument, a deal that will require him to spend three months in jail.
Keith A. Brautigam, 45, formerly of Patton Township, also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of false imprisonment stemming from the October 2023 attack. A felony count of strangulation and a summary count of harassment were dropped.
He is to be sentenced to three to 23 1/2 months in the Centre County Correctional Facility. Though his formal sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7, Brautigam was taken to the jail Monday to begin serving his time.
He is no longer employed at Penn State, a university spokesman said Friday in an email to the Centre Daily Times. Brautigam had served as the university’s interim vice president for information technology and chief information officer.
Penn State declined to share the manner in which Brautigam left the university, describing it as a confidential personnel matter. After he was charged, a university spokesman said the university was “aware of the serious charges” and said Brautigam had been placed on administrative leave.
According to Brautigam’s profile on LinkedIn, he left the university in November 2023 — one month after he was arrested.
The woman reported she and Brautigam were involved in a verbal argument that became physical, Patton Township police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Centre County prosecutors alleged he grabbed her by the neck and tackled her to the ground, causing bruising and “substantial pain.” The woman said she “thought she was going to die” and was unable to scream because of the pressure on her neck, police wrote.
In addition to bruising, her skin appeared red and irritated, police wrote. She also reported a broken tooth.
Brautigam told officers he “lost physical control of his body and may have choked her,” police wrote. After he pleaded guilty Monday, his defense lawyer Matt McClenahen said he was grateful he and prosecutors reached an “amicable” agreement.
Brautigam began working for Penn State in 2014, eventually making his way up to leading the university’s IT unit. He had been responsible for providing leadership for about 1,200 IT professionals and also served on the president’s council.
His full-time successor is David Horton, who was named to the position in March.