On April 9, 2015, Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false tax document and no contest to five counts of mail and wire fraud. In May 2013, Brooks was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on 30 federal charges of wire, tax and mail fraud relating to his charitable work. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that Brooks took almost $1 million in charitable contributions meant for the Universal Humanities and the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials (GABEO) and used the money for his personal use. While Brooks misappropriated funds from charities, he also under-reported his income to the federal government from 2008 to 2011. On his tax returns for those years, Brooks reported that he only earned $35,000 a year. On November 9, 2015, Brooks was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison for tax, mail and wire fraud.