11/06/2026 12:54:00
Printable Page
11/06 12:52 CST Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown pleads guilty to reduced charge,
sentenced to probation in 2025 shooting
Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown pleads guilty to reduced charge, sentenced to
probation in 2025 shooting
By DANIEL KOZIN and PHILIP MARCELO
Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) --- Former NFL star Antonio Brown pleaded guilty Friday to
aggravated assault with a firearm in connection with a 2025 shooting outside a
celebrity boxing match in Miami.
Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez sentenced Brown to three years of probation, during
which time he will have to attend weekly counseling sessions and not possess a
firearm, among other conditions.
Wearing a black leather jacket and white pants, he spoke sparingly and in a low
voice during the brief proceedings in Miami state court. As he entered his
guilty plea, the judge asked him to speak up.
Outside the courtroom, Brown thanked God and said he wanted to "get back to
life" and his family.
He declined to answer other questions, but his lawyer, Mark Eiglarsh, said they
were "extremely grateful" the case was behind them.
"My client was facing 30 years in prison with a 20-year minimum mandatory, and
he was given an offer he just couldn't refuse," he said. "Probation was too
good to turn down, and we're both very excited about the outcome."
The plea to the reduced charge allows the All-Pro wide receiver to avoid prison
time and a criminal conviction.
Brown had initially been charged with attempted murder after police say he
grabbed a handgun from a security staffer at the event and fired two shots at a
man he had been in a fistfight with earlier.
Brown, 38, maintained he was defending himself from an attack as others were
trying to steal jewelry from him.
Florida's Stand Your Ground law allows people who believe they face death or
serious injury to use deadly force to defend themselves without a duty to
retreat.
Prosecutor Howard Rosen said in court Friday that his office was seeking to
reduce the charge against Brown because there was "a question" of whether he
was actually attempting to shoot the victim, who had been walking away from the
altercation at the time.
He noted the victim, who was grazed in the neck, was in court for the hearing
and has said publicly that he wouldn't cooperate with police and didn't want to
press charges.
"Rather than the entire case going away and there being no opportunity for Mr.
Brown to receive what's ultimately going to be some therapeutic treatment, we
all came together --- the defense and the state --- and decided that this was
in the best interest of everybody," Rosen said.
The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, has said previously that he's since
forgiven Brown.
"We are grateful to the Court for ratifying this carefully crafted agreement,"
Richard Cooper, his lawyer, said in a statement. "We have maintained that we
wish Mr. Brown healing and a path closer to God."
Brown spent 12 years in the NFL, most of it with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He
won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 under quarterback Tom
Brady.
The following season, though, Brown effectively ended his career when he
inexplicably took off his jersey, shoulder pads and gloves and ran off the
field during a game. The Buccaneers released him after the incident.
Brown has dealt with other legal problems in recent years.
He previously was accused of battery on a moving truck driver, several domestic
violence charges, failure to pay child support and other incidents.
Brown was extradited in November 2025 from Dubai, where he has business
interests, after an arrest warrant on the attempted murder charge was issued in
June of the same year.
___
Marcelo reported from New York.
|
