Pair who worked for Brooks plead guilty

Two people who worked for former body-armor manufacturer David Brooks pleaded guilty Monday to income-tax evasion.

Sandra Hatfield, the former chief operating officer of Brooks' DHB Industries, which was based in Westbury, admitted in federal court in Central Islip that she failed to properly report on her tax returns a $600,000 condominium in Florida that was paid for with company money.

Hatfield, of Tennessee, was convicted along with Brooks in September 2010 of committing fraud, insider trading and obstruction of justice in connection with a scheme to loot the company.

Hatfield's sister, Patricia Lennex, who was head of a Tennessee subsidiary of DHB called PACA, or Protective Apparel Company of America, also pleaded guilty Monday in the same court to failing to report a $100,000 bonus she received from DHB.

In the original indictment filed against Brooks and Hatfield, they were charged with failure to properly report income, as was Lennex.

But the tax counts against the three were severed for separate trials in order to simplify the fraud and insider trading trial.

Brooks pleaded guilty in August to failure to report and pay taxes on $10 million in bonuses.

The attorneys for Hatfield and Lennex said their clients had no comment as they left the court.

U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert ruled last week in a separate decision that though Hatfield and Brooks were convicted of insider trading they did not have to forfeit to the government the money prosecutors alleged they made on the sale of DHB stock. In Brooks' case up to $185 million; in Hatfield's, up to $5 million.

Hatfield and Brooks, however, may be ordered to pay restitution to victims of their crimes.

Hatfield and Lennex face up to 14 months in prison when they're sentenced. Brooks faces up to 11 years on the tax charges. And Hatfield and Brooks each face up to 25 years in prison on each of the counts they were convicted of in the criminal trial that ended September 2010.