NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Two men on Wednesday pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 1989 drug-related murder of a 30-year-old man from Brooklyn.
According to federal prosecutors, William Skinner and Dorian “Kool-Aid” Brooks, both 51, shot Efren Cardenas over 20 times on Feb. 10, 1989 in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The two allegedly committed the murder in order to continue a conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Authorities did not say why the two, and several others, targeted Cardenas.
Both Skinner and Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine.
“Today, William Skinner and Dorian Brooks admitted their participation in murdering Efren Cardenas over three decades ago, in February 1989,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “Today’s guilty pleas demonstrate that law enforcement will never give up on murder victims and their loved ones, no matter how long it takes to achieve justice.”
The pair was arrested in 2019, along with co-defendant Luis Merced. At the time, they were also charged with murder, but that charge was later removed.
Skinner and Brooks now face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Skinner is scheduled to be sentenced on March 10, 2022 while Brooks will be sentenced on April 6, 2022.
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