An ex-con who’d just been released on parole was sentenced to a year and a day behind bars for sucker-punching an FBI agent and sending the lawman sprawling onto a Brooklyn sidewalk
Darren McKenzie, who has already served most of his sentence already in the notorious MDC Brooklyn federal jail, was caught on video punching the agent — who was in plainclothes and conducting surveillance, though not of McKenzie — on Ocean Ave. across from Prospect Park.
The blow broke the agent’s nose, gave him a concussion and landed him on medical leave for 45 days. He’s reported longterm trauma and memory problems since the attack, according to federal prosecutors.
McKenzie, 27, had been released on parole less than three weeks before the attack after serving three years in a carjacking cases. He spent his newfound freedom committing not just the single attack but string of assaults, according to the feds.
He was busted Sept. 10 on charges he attacked the mother of his child by twisting her wrist, he punched the FBI agent on Sept. 22, and he punched a cellmate in Brooklyn central booking on Sept. 23, according to authorities. The state cases in the Sept. 10 and Sept. 23 incidents have been sealed.
McKenzie admitted to the punch in a November hearing, saying in court that he thought the agent was following him.
“While the defendant did not know Agent-1 was an FBI Agent, it appears that the defendant believed Agent-1 was conducting surveillance —which he was, just not of the defendant—and shows that the defendant’s motive for the assault was related to Agent-1’s official duties,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.
Court evidence
In a surveillance image, Darren McKenzie (circled in red) is seen approaching an FBI agent (circled in green) on Ocean Ave. in Brooklyn before punching him in the face. (Court evidence)
McKenzie’s lawyer, Karume James of the Federal Defenders, said in court filings that his client has long suffered from diagnosed mental illness, and came out of prison changed for the worse, more withdrawn and argumentative than before.
“McKenzie appears to have been in the throes of an diagnosed mental health crisis at the time of the incident,” James wrote in an April 15 letter to Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Ramon Reyes.
James and federal prosecutors offered differing visions of the notorious MDC Brooklyn jail, with the defense lawyer pointing out the “extremely harsh conditions” there and describing his client’s stabbing behind bars in December.
“Tragically, Mr. McKenzie was attacked by eight people in December 2025, only three months after his arrest, and was stabbed at least six times in his back. He was also told by a treating nurse that he may have suffered a collapsed or punctured lung,” James wrote. “Despite this severe injury, he was only given 400 mg of Ibuprofen and to date has received no further medical attention, despite making repeated requests to MDC staff.”
Prosecutors countered that McKenzie “has been involved in multiple physical altercations with other inmates” at MDC, asking he be sentenced to 33 to 41 months. They also argued in court filings that the Sunset Park jail — which has been plagued by violence, horrific conditions, medical mistreatment, and severe staffing shortages for years — improved in 2025.
Reyes, who sentenced McKenzie on Thursday, went with the year-and-a-day sentence after determining that prosecutors had over-estimated the federal sentencing guidelines in his case.