Hot Iron Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 18 Years in Federal Prison

TOPEKA, KS—Cecil A. Brooks, 47, Topeka, Kan., has been sentenced to 216 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.

In February 2009, Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine from an apartment complex located within 1,000 feet of Topeka High School.

In the fall of 2007, Brooks’ drug trafficking operations became the target of a joint investigation by the Topeka Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators learned that Brooks was overseeing trafficking crack and storing the drugs at various apartments in the Winstone Apartment complex at 800 SW Polk and was working with a group of co-conspirators who distributed the drugs to users.

In November 2007, one of Brooks’ distributors told Topeka police that Brooks had hit him on the head with a beer bottle, knocked him to the ground and placed a hot clothes iron on his back and severely burned him. Police verified that the man had injuries consistent with the assault. The man said Brooks was angry because he believed the man was responsible for the loss of $1,000 worth of crack cocaine.

On Jan. 16, 2008, Brooks was arrested at a drug stash house he operated in Kansas City, Kan. When officers entered the house, Brooks attempted to reach under a couch, where officers found a Smith and Wesson handgun.

Welch commended the Topeka Police Department, the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tris Hunt for their work on the case.