A Lexington County man has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison on a cocaine charge.

Curley Brooks, Jr., 47, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, a 2021 charge that stemmed from a parcel inspection conducted at the the FedEx Express Hub in West Columbia.

“A K-9 gave a positive alert to a package,” a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia states. “As a result of the positive alert, the police opened the package and found it contained approximately two pounds of cocaine. The Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division made a controlled delivery of the parcel. The police maintained surveillance on the package after it was delivered. A truck pulled into the driveway of the residence, and the driver, who was later identified as Curley Brooks, Jr., exited the driver side door, walked to the front door, and took the package. Brooks then carried the package back to his vehicle, where he got in with it.”

The release details that Brooks attempted to flee when confronted by law enforcement.

“Brooks then backed out of the driveway and attempted to leave. Agents attempted to stop Brooks as he was leaving the residence,” the release states. “Brooks attempted to evade law enforcement by driving into the yard and, when doing so, struck a SLED vehicle. Other agents attempted to block Brooks’ truck from leaving the yard to prevent a pursuit, but Brooks made a sharp turn and almost struck a second police vehicle. 

“When Brooks turned to avoid hitting the police vehicle, he rear-ended a civilian car sitting at a stop sign. Brooks then placed the truck in reverse to try to back up and struck another police vehicle. As Brooks drove off, other agents were pulling up in the intersection, and Brooks drove head-on and struck their vehicle before being stopped. Brooks was then taken into custody. The parcel was recovered sitting on the passenger floorboard of the truck. During the entire incident, Brooks’ two-year-old child was unsecured in the backseat of the vehicle.”

Following his guilty plea to the cocaine possession charge, Brooks was sentenced to 160 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry Wooten, with his prison term to be followed by three years of  court-ordered supervision. The federal system does not offer the opportunity for parole.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William K. Witherspoon is prosecuting the case, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; SLED; and the Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team assisted with the investigation.