Detroit Man Sentenced to 191 Months in Prison for Silver City Carjacking |
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U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico
April 25, 2011
LAS CRUCES—Today in federal court in Las Cruces, Kevin Maurice Brooks, a 48-year-old resident of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced to 191 months in prison for his conviction on attempted carjacking and related-firearms charges. Brooks will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his prison sentence. The court also ordered Brooks to pay $2,141.75 in restitution to the victims of the carjacking.
United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that the charges arose out of conduct occurring on September 27, 2009, in Grant County, New Mexico. According to a criminal complaint filed in May 2010, Brooks and his co-defendant Stephanie Landon, 35, of Silver City, were living in a camper trailer next to a mobile home occupied by the victims, David Vega, his wife Christy, and Christy’s minor daughter, when Brooks and Landon attempted to carjack the victims’ 1998 Ford Taurus.
During an argument between Brooks and the victims, Brooks pointed a .40 caliber handgun at Mr. Vega and ordered him to retrieve the keys to the Ford Taurus. As Mr. Vega went to get the keys, Brooks fired a shot that missed Mr. Vega by a few feet. According to the complaint, Mr. Vega retrieved the keys and gave them to Brooks, who went outside and handed them to Landon. Brooks then went back inside the mobile home and told the victims that he was going to kill them. Christy’s daughter was present during this exchange and that she begged Brooks not to kill her parents. Brooks then fired two more shots in the direction of the victims, missing them by less than a foot.
Landon returned to the mobile home after loading the car and told Brooks that it was time to leave. Brooks asked Landon what he should do, and Landon told him: “You do what you think is best.” According to the complaint, Landon looked at Mr. and Mrs. Vega and said: “You know what, just shoot them,” and walked back outside. Brooks again told the victims he was going to kill them and pulled a bandana over his face. Before Brooks could pull the trigger, however, Grant County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene in response to a neighbor’s report of “shots fired.” The deputies ordered everyone outside and arrested Brooks and Landon.
Brooks, who has been in custody since his arrest, pled guilty on October 19, 2010, to attempted carjacking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119; using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c); and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Las Cruces, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Silver City Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark A. Saltman and Michael D. Nammar.