Ohio Man Sentenced for Tampering with Evidence

ALBANY, NEW YORK – John L. Brooks, age 41, of Akron, Ohio, was sentenced yesterday to 21 months in prison for tampering with evidence.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Brooks was convicted of tampering with evidence after a 4-day jury trial in January 2019.  The evidence presented at trial showed that Brooks traveled from Akron to Albany on April 29, and retrieved a bag containing eight firearms that he had previously purchased on March 18 and 19, 2017 and provided to individuals from New York.  Brooks then returned to Akron with those firearms.  After hearing evidence that Brooks did so only days after one of the individuals from New York attended an interview with a federal agent, and Brooks received several calls from phone numbers with a 518 area code, as well as other evidence, the jury found that Brooks attempted to conceal the firearms with the intent to impair their availability for use in a grand jury investigation.

United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also sentenced Brooks to 2 years of supervised release, to begin following his term of imprisonment. 

The case was investigated by the ATF and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia Giglio Suarez.