Ex-detective dealt drugs, jury told

Molly Ball

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 | 11 a.m.

After he lost his job as a North Las Vegas narcotics detective, William Brooks became a drug dealer and used his expertise to teach others how to avoid getting busted, prosecutors told a jury on Monday.

Brooks, 46, went on trial Monday, facing as much as life in prison if convicted for the alleged drug dealing. He faces three counts of drug trafficking, one count of possession of marijuana with intent to sell, and one weapons charge.

The trial is expected to end today.

After vacuum-sealed packets of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana were found in his home, Brooks told police how he put his background to use, Metro Police narcotics Detective Eric Barros testified.

"He would school other associates of his that were dealing in narcotics," Barros said, telling them "things to look out for to detect a narcotics detective."

Brooks also allegedly boasted, "I was the best narcotics detective North Las Vegas ever had," according to the prosecutor, Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent.

Brooks' lawyers tried to make a case that Brooks was betrayed by police who had agreed to use him as an informant.

"There are some promises here made by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that were not kept at that time," defense attorney Norm Reed said. "Somebody pulled the plug on this agreement."

Brooks was on probation for coercion for accosting a woman in a parking lot -- a felony conviction that would preclude him from working again as a police officer -- when he became the target of a drug bust.

In October 2002, undercover detective Richard Sanchez testified, Sanchez set up a deal through an informant and bought a little less than one ounce of cocaine from Brooks in a limousine in the valet lanes of the Palms.

But Brooks wasn't arrested then, and narcotics detectives didn't pursue the matter.

Six months later, in April 2003, Brooks' probation officer discovered the drug packets under the bed during a surprise inspection of Brooks' home at Los Prados Country Club.

Brooks had a home vacuum-sealing machine on his kitchen counter, and in his freezer, steaks were vacuum-sealed in the same type of plastic bags as the marijuana, the former probation officer, David Noyes, testified.

In addition, a 9 mm pistol was found in the Cadillac Escalade parked in Brooks' driveway; it is illegal for felons to possess firearms.

Brooks was arrested for probation violations and later on the drug and weapon charges.

Brooks' lawyer pointed to the six-month gap between the initial drug bust and the probation officer's finds, questioning why police didn't arrest him initially and suggesting it was because Brooks was helping the police.

The officers who testified, however, said the real reason was that because of his expertise in narcotics policing, Brooks sensed what was up in the limo that day.

That deal was supposed to serve as an "introduction" between the undercover detective and Brooks, so that in the future, they could deal directly with each other, Barros testified. But as a rule, introductions aren't recorded for use in prosecution, he said.

The purpose of the introduction is to cut the informant out of the loop, protecting him from being recognized as a snitch, and to earn the suspect's trust, so that he may lead detectives to higher-ups in his organization, officers testified.

Of course, Brooks would have known such police procedures. He refused to deal with his buyer (the undercover detective) without their connection (the informant) present, witnesses said.

Brooks also tried to avoid handing the drugs directly to the buyer and accepting the money directly from him, actions witnesses testified were intended to foil potential prosecution based on the deal.

And when Brooks heard that the man who set up the sale might be an informant, he refused to deal with him anymore, narcotics Sgt. Steven Menger said.

That's why police didn't pursue the case, Menger said: they didn't have enough to go on from the initial deal, and they couldn't set up more deals.

When the drugs were found in his home, Brooks said they weren't his -- he said he was holding them for a famous basketball player he wouldn't name, witnesses said.

Brooks also tried to get police to take him on as an informant, but they rejected the idea, partly because of his police experience, Barros said.