Michael Wayne Brooker Jr. was convicted today in Rowan County Criminal Superior Court of felony possession of heroin. Brooker admitted his status as a habitual felon. Judge Anna Mills Wagoner sentenced him to a minimum of 23 months to a maximum of 40 months in prison. This sentence shall run at the expiration of a sentence Brooker is serving in the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections.

On Nov. 8, 2015, Salisbury Police officers set up a traffic stop on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Park Avenue for a vehicle that did not have a proper registration tag. The driver, identified as Brooker, rolled down the window as he was eating food. Officers noticed an odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.

Officers determined Brooker’s driver’s license was suspended and he had an outstanding order for his arrest. Officers asked Brooker to step out of the vehicle and he was arrested. While searching Brooker, officers felt a bulge in his pocket. Brooker ran away from the officers, but they were able to apprehend him and found a small plastic bag that contained heroin.

Brooker was previously convicted of felony selling a schedule II controlled substance, felony possession with intent to sell and deliver a schedule II controlled substance, and felony selling cocaine, among other convictions.

Rowan County District Attorney Brandy Cook said she “appreciated the joint effort of Assistant District Attorney Barrett Poppler and the Salisbury Police Department in removing another repeat offender from our community.” Cook stated that if her office had not prosecuted Brooker as a habitual felon, he could have received as little as four months in prison.