Man held in human trafficking case now facing attempted murder charge
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake man charged with human trafficking for forcing his fiancée to prostitute herself is now accused of the attempted murder of one of the woman’s customers, and his alleged accomplice in this new case was involved in a 2011 shooting that killed a child and injured five others.
The new charges were filed against Nicholas Troy Brooks, 38, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.
The complaint Anderson’s office filed against Brooks includes charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at an occupied vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
News of the new case against Brooks came on Wednesday, the same day that he was in Lake County Superior Court for trial on a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle, Anderson said.
Brooks also is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking for prostitution, pimping, procuring a person for prostitution, inflicting traumatic injury on a person, threats to kill or produce great bodily injury and solicitation of perjury, Anderson said.
The attempted murder and other new charges against Brooks have their roots in the human trafficking case, for which Brooks had been arrested by Lake County District Attorney’s Office investigators in February, as Lake County News has reported.
Anderson said Brooks was prostituting his then-fiancée in that case.
Brooks is accused of taking almost all of the proceeds of the prostitution transactions; in return, his girlfriend would receive small amounts of money and drugs for her work. In order to get the girlfriend to comply with his orders he would threaten, coerce, menace and force her into prostitution, Anderson said.
On March 14, a judge ordered Brooks to stand trial in the human trafficking case at the end of a preliminary hearing.
Anderson said that evidence was presented at the preliminary hearing that Brooks had beaten this girlfriend on at least two occasions with a cell phone and a flashlight.
Even though Brooks was in the Lake County jail for some of this time, Anderson alleged that Brooks would force the woman to bring him the money and place it on his books at the jail or phone cards. Within a several month period she placed at least $3,500 on his books at the jail.
There was additional information at the preliminary hearing that on one occasion a customer got physical with the girlfriend – pushing her out of a vehicle – and did not pay her the agreed-on amount, Anderson said.
Anderson said Brooks had set up this customer on the next meeting with the girlfriend, and ended up firing several rounds into his truck while he was fleeing.
Brooks made an arraignment appearance on April 3. At that time his attorney, Tracy Gatlin, argued for a motion to dismiss the charges against him.
Gatlin accused the District Attorney’s Office of lying to her and failing to disclose that Brooks’ ex-fiancée had been taken into protective custody, as she was wanted as a witness in the case.
In return, District Attorney Don Anderson said his office had no requirement at that point in the proceedings to disclose the location of the victim, whose life was in “grave danger” from Brooks, according to a statement Anderson submitted to the court.
Judge Stephen Hedstrom denied the dismissal motion after about an hour of argument.
Ongoing investigation leads to new charges
The ongoing investigation into the shooting incident involving one of Brooks’ girlfriend’s customers – known in court documents as “J.S.” – produced enough evidence to charge Brooks with attempted murder, Anderson said.
The new complaint filed against Brooks alleges that he attempted to kill “J.S.” by shooting at the man while he was in his own vehicle with the trafficking victim, Anderson said.
Anderson said the attempted murder case against Brooks includes a second suspect, Kevin Ray Stone, 35, who is charged with being an accomplice and aiding and abetting in the attempted murder.
In 2011, Anderson personally prosecuted Stone, who was convicted of being an accomplice in the murder of 4-year-old Skyler Rapp and shooting five other people – including the child’s mother and her boyfriend – during a barbecue in Clearlake.
Stone was recently paroled from prison after serving his sentence for his limited involvement in the murder, Anderson said.
Stone’s co-defendants in that murder case, Paul Braden and Orlando Lopez, remain in prison, where they are serving sentences of 286 years to life.
Anderson said Brooks’ bail for the new charges was set at $1,260,000. Brooks is set to be arraigned on April 24.
Gatlin, Brooks’ defense counsel, has been relieved, with Lakeport attorney Mitchell Hauptman now appointed to the case, Anderson said.
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