Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Joseph Brooks' Assistant Sentenced to Jail for Recruiting Sex Victims

By DNAinfo Staff on October 22, 2011 2:10pm

Shawni Lucier, 43, covers her face before taking a plea deal in Manhattan Supreme Court, May 25, 2011.
Shawni Lucier, 43, covers her face before taking a plea deal in Manhattan Supreme Court, May 25, 2011.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Paul Lomax

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The assistant to Joseph Brooks was sentenced to jail Friday for helping the disgraced Oscar-winning songwriter round up vulnerable young women who prosecutors say he sexually assaulted and raped.

Shawni Lucier, 43, pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor criminal facilitation charges on May 25, after the 73-year-old "You Light Up My Life" songwriter committed suicide months before his trial was set to begin.

Prosecutors said Lucier knew that Brooks was abusing the women he lured to his Upper East Side apartment for phony auditions but continued to help him find about two dozen 18- to 22-year-old women he recruited from around the country for purported "movie auditions."

"There are dozens of women whose lives are now shattered," Assistant District Attorney Maxine Rosenthal said Friday. "She has clearly demonstrated that a paycheck is more important than a conscience."

Lucier was sentenced to four months in jail and five years of probation. She could have faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted, but was promised less time in exchange for her plea.

Brooks' suicide in May came soon after his 24-year-old son Nicholas was arrested for murder. Nicholas' Brooks is accused of killing up-and-coming swimsuit designer Sylvie Cachay, 33, as she tried to break up with him in December 2010 at the SoHo House.

His case is also still pending in Manhattan Supreme Court.