La Plata, MD – When Lorenzo Brooks, 35 of Washington, DC, took a plea agreement on theft charges from Aug. 22, 2014, he thought maybe he would get a break.
What he didn’t consider was that prior convictions including several distribution of cocaine charges would weigh against him when it came time for Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West to deliver his verdict Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Charles County Assistant State’s Attorney Katrine Bakhtiary told the court Brooks’ charges stemmed from the Aug. 22, 2014 incident at Walmart in La Plata where he and an accomplice entered the store and took more than $900 worth of merchandise without paying for it.
When loss control officers confronted the pair, she said Brooks left the building through the home and garden entrance.
The accomplice, Bakhtiary noted, accosted one of the officers before fleeing.
Brooks was detained in the parking lot, she said.
“On his person were the keys to the car,” Bakhtiary said. “In the car were items from Walmart. The defendant has a lengthy record from Washington, DC.”
The maximum sentence for the offense is 18 months, she added, noting that Brooks has had several violations of parole and probation in the past.
Defense attorney Tom Pyles argued that when an accomplice asked Brooks for a ride to the Walmart from DC, he didn’t know his friend intended mischief.
“When Mr. Brooks figured out this gentleman was not on the up and up, he left,” Pyles said. “I have still photos showing that the other gentleman was pushing the cart.
“My client went a different way,” he added. “He didn’t touch or strike the loss prevention officer, the other gentleman did.”
“I don’t even do this stuff,” Brooks told the court. “My friend had me take him to the store. When he started putting things in the shopping cart, I asked him, ‘Man, why are you getting all of this stuff?’ He said there was a woman he knew who worked there who was going to get him the stuff for free. He sent me to the front of the store to find her and he started leaving with the shopping cart.
“When the tall dude grabbed me out in the parking lot, I went with him because I knew I didn’t do nothing,” he added. “Next thing I knew, he put me in handcuffs.
“I did play a role in it,” he said to West. “I went down there with him.”
“It’s fairly clear cut that the state’s version is much worse than your version,” West told him.
West sentenced Brooks to 18 months in the Charles County Detention Center with work release granted.
Brooks’ girlfriend was incredulous at the sentence and complained loudly with foul language.
When the court deputy asked her to step out in the hallway to speak with Pyles about the sentence and not disrupt proceedings, she complied.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com