NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF)– A former staff member of the non-violence group Gideon’s Army was sentenced Friday to 4 years in federal jail associated to his function in a shootout in 2015 in a North Nashville community.
U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger bied far the 48-month sentence versus Charles Brooks, 38, who had actually pleaded guilty to being a founded guilty felon in belongings of ammo, in addition to breaking his probation from a 2014 conviction for unlawful belongings of a gun.
Trauger stated she would advise that Brooks get psychological health and drug abuse treatment while jailed. In addition, Brooks will get credit for time currently served because his arrest last August.
Brooks had actually been employed by Gideon’s Army to operate in the Cumberland View public real estate advancement as a “violence interrupter.”
The weapon fight on April 6, 2021, was recorded on security video. Detectives recuperated bullet housings, however never ever discovered the AK-47-style weapon, which describes why Brooks was not charged with unlawful belongings of a gun.
Brooks’ defense lawyer indicated proof that another person fired the very first shot, and the Gideon’s Army staff member shot back in self-defense.
A pre-sentence examination kept in mind that Brooks was when a member of the Crips street gang, however he informed Trauger that he left the gang life back in 2014.
According to state and federal court records, Brooks was founded guilty in 2006 on state charges for voluntary murder.
In 2014, he pleaded guilty to federal guns charges for being a founded guilty felon in belongings of a gun.
In June 2020, he was implicated of breaking his federal monitored release for his participation in a domestic-violence occurrence. Court records kept in mind a continuous history of stopped working drug tests and rejections to appear for visits with probation officers and psychological health specialists.
Then, in August 2020, Gideon’s Army creator and CEO, Rasheedat Fetuga, informed a federal magistrate that she and Gideon’s Army would monitor Brooks if he were launched from imprisonment.
Brooks, she stated, had actually offered with the non-violence group, then had actually been placed on the payroll as a professional.
” Since of how well he has actually done as a volunteer, Gideon’s Army has actually brought him on the group,” Fetuga affirmed.
She recommended to the court that Brooks was working as one of the group’s violence interrupters.
” They are reliable messengers, which Mr. Brooks is a reputable messenger within the Cumberland View neighborhood,” Fetuga affirmed. “So we have reliable messengers who have the ability to disrupt violence on the street level.”
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