Brooks' move to psych ward called retaliatory

Attorneys for David Brooks argued in federal court in Central Islip on Friday that the former body-armor magnate's placement in the psychiatric ward of the federal jail in Brooklyn was purely retaliatory after they got him successful released from solitary confinement.

Until this week, Brooks, the former chief of DHB Industries in Westbury, had spent 50 days in solitary confinement in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as a security risk while awaiting sentencing on a September conviction for masterminding a massive fraud scheme involving his company's finances and stock.

But earlier this week, federal Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson in Central Islip ordered Brooks released from solitary, saying that any security threat he posed was outweighed by the possible "irreparable harm" to his mental well-being because of his history of severe anxiety attacks.

Tomlinson said that any security risk Brooks posed was not sufficient to keep him confined to solitary and could be controlled by the jail just as it handles other nonviolent prisoners.

Officials have said that Brooks possessed contraband on several occasions, including tranquilizers, and may have been involved in jury tampering. Tomlinson set a hearing next week on whether Brooks should be moved from the psychiatric ward. Jail officials could not be reached for comment. One of Brooks' attorneys, Gerald Shargel, declined to comment on Friday, as did Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.