Brooks accused in 2 prior jail violations

A federal prosecutor revealed Wednesday that fraud defendant David Brooks allegedly had been involved in two previously unpublicized violations of jail policies, which officials considered security problems.

In one incident at a federal detention center in Jamaica, recently, the former body-armor manufacturer was caught attempting to steal pens from an official's office, according to federal prosecutor Christopher Ott. And in another incident there, a search of Brooks' cell uncovered a cache of contraband pens, Ott said.

Standard jail pens issued to detainees are easily breakable to prevent them from being used as a weapon.

Ott spoke of the two pen incidents at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson at the federal court in Central Islip.

The hearing was called at the request of Brooks' attorneys, who said their client is being held in inhumane conditions at his current jail, the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, including being held in solitary confinement.

Previously, federal marshals said that Brooks attempted to conceal a regular pen in a body cavity, had possession of contraband tranquilizers, and was found with a handwritten note that might have indicated he had knowledge of jury tampering.

Prison officials argued that Brooks was being held in solitary because he was a security risk who had a history of possessing contraband.

Brooks' attorney, Richard Levitt, argued that the incidents did not happen recently and that Brooks was not a security risk.

Tomlinson said she would issue a decision on the request shortly.

In another matter, Tomlinson ordered the jail to stop attempting to wean Brooks off his use of tranquilizers and return him to his customary dosage until a hearing next week.

Tomlinson also ordered the jail to allow Brooks to attend any Jewish holy day services at the jail with other Jewish detainees, although jail officials said it was customary for people in solitary confinement to observe religious holy days there.

Meanwhile, the jury deliberating Brooks' fraud case has yet to reach a verdict.