Ex-lawmaker Brooks could soon be free man

Having spent nearly a year-and-a-half behind bars, former Democratic Assemblyman Steven Brooks was expected to be released from custody soon, his lawyer said Thursday.

Brooks pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, admitting that he had been addicted to marijuana while carrying a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver.

District Judge Abbi Silver reduced Brooks’ bail to $5,000 in that case.

Brooks also pleaded guilty to separate charges of resisting a public officer with a firearm Thursday afternoon. His bail also was dropped to $5,000 in the second case, and Brooks’ family was expected to post the amount required.

That means Brooks could be released from custody Thursday night or sometime Friday, according to his attorney Adam Gill.

The 42-year-old Brooks was doing “better than expected,” Gill said, though he would be ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation as part of his plea agreements.

Recently released from custody in California on a felony conviction, Brooks was immediately transferred earlier this month to the Clark County Detention Center. Along with charges of resisting a public officer with a firearm and domestic battery, Brooks faces charges of assaulting a protected person and lying to a public officer.

If Brooks completes probation and a psychiatric evaluation, the charges against him would be reduced to a single misdemeanor count of resisting a public person, Gill said. Once he completes at least three years of probation, the gun possession charged would be dismissed. Prosecutors have agreed to drop the other charges.

In March 2013, Brooks became the first state lawmaker expelled from the Nevada Legislature. He was arrested after police said he fled the scene of a disagreement with a tow truck driver in Barstow, Calif., throwing metal objects out the window of his SUV as police chased him.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker