(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Antonio Brown arrives for an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin, File)
(AP) Former NFL star wide receiver Antonio Brown will be released on $25,000 bail and must wear a GPS ankle monitor on an attempted murder charge in Florida, a judge ordered Wednesday.
Brown, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree attempted murder charge, which carries a potential 15-year prison sentence and a fine up to $10,000 if he is convicted. His lawyer, Mark Eiglarsh, said Brown would return to his home in Broward County, Florida, while the case proceeds.
“He no longer has a passport. He’ll be living at his home. I look forward to working with him zealously on this case,” Eiglarsh told Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer at a bond hearing.
Brown appeared at the hearing via video wearing a red jail shirt and spoke only to answer questions from the judge. Prosecutors had sought pretrial detention, contending Brown is a high-paid former professional athlete with the resources to flee.
According to an arrest warrant, Brown is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after a celebrity boxing match in Miami on May 16 and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier. The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.
Brown’s attorney said Wednesday that the affidavit is mistaken and that Brown actually used his personal firearm, and that the shots were not aimed at anyone.
“It was my client’s own gun,” Eiglarsh said.
Based on his social media posts, Brown had been living in Dubai for several months. In a social media post after the altercation, Brown said he was defending himself because he was “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.”
Eiglarsh said Brown has unspecified business interests in Dubai and always intended to turn himself in on the attempted murder charge.
“He didn’t flee to Dubai,” the lawyer said. “He always had a desire and intention to answer this case.”
Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for Tampa Bay but spent most of his career with Pittsburgh. For his career, Brown had 928 receptions for more than 12,000 yards and accounted for 88 total touchdowns counting punt returns and one pass.
