Dad Joining Son in Slammer After Trying to Smuggle Smack in His Shorts

Daniel Brooks Sr. and Daniel Brooks Jr. are about to have a father-and-son reunion, but not the one they planned.

They’ll be on the same side of the bars at the Ionia Correctional Facility after the elder Brooks, of Grand Rapids, tried to smuggle heroin and marijuana in his underwear when he visited Brooks Jr. at the prison last year, The Ionia Sentinel-Standard reports.

Now Brooks Sr. faces anywhere from 25 months to 20 years in prison. He was sentenced last week on one count of manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance less than 50 grams. In exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of furnishing contraband to a prisoner, MLive/The Grand Rapids Press reports.

Prison officials had been monitoring their phone calls prior to the fateful Feb. 16, 2013, visit. Brooks Sr. passed the drugs to Brooks Jr., who put them in his mouth.

When he was sentenced, Brooks Sr. was recovering from nine gunshot wounds suffered in an unrelated incident. His attorney Michael Siwek, asked that sentencing be delayed until his client could have a surgery related to the treatment of those injuries. It’s not clear from the reports who or why Brooks Sr. was shot. Siewek also said his client suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In court, Brooks Sr. acknowledged his guilt and said he was willing to pay his debt.

“I was shot nine times. … I need another surgery. I know I would not get it in an institution setting. I would like to go to my specialist to finish.”

But Ionia County Assistant Prosecutor said he could get treatment in prison.

“This was a serious crime. He’s made his bed, and now it’s time to lie in it,” Butler said. “He can get care at prison. It’s time for him to pay his debt to society.”

Brooks told the court that he was not trying to avoid serving his sentence.

“I violated the law and I am willing to pay for what I did. I’m not trying to get out of anything. I accepted that plea knowing I was guilty,” he said.