Antonio Brown accepts plea deal, avoids prison — SkimNews
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- Antonio Brown will accept a plea deal reducing his second-degree attempted murder charge to aggravated assault — the agreement includes no prison, no jail, and no house arrest, only straight probation and an order to stay away from the victim, attorney Mark Eiglarsh said.
- Brown, 38, had faced up to 30 years in prison with a 20-year mandatory minimum under Florida law for a May 2025 gunfire incident outside an amateur boxing match in Miami's Little Haiti.
- The plea comes two weeks after alleged victim Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu said he would no longer participate in prosecution and "forgave" Brown, per Nantambu's attorney Richard L. Cooper, who said "the ends of justice are accomplished."
- Eiglarsh called the offer "one he couldn't refuse" and stressed there are no fines, no community service, no alcohol/drug or psychological evaluation, and no letter of apology — just staying away from the victim.
- Brown pleaded not guilty in November 2025 and filed a stand-your-ground motion in December 2025; Eiglarsh said accepting the plea "should not be interpreted as a retreat" from Brown's claim of lawful self-defense.
- Prosecutors alleged Brown punched Nantambu, chased him with a gun, and fired two shots at point-blank range; Brown's motion claims he fired "warning shots" after reasonably fearing "death or great bodily harm," and that Nantambu took the weapon and left.
- Brown fled to Dubai after the incident and spent nearly six months there before U.S. marshals extradited him; he was released on $25,000 bail with a GPS ankle monitor.
Why it matters: Brown's legal exposure — a potential 30-year sentence with a 20-year mandatory minimum under Florida law — collapses to straight probation, sparing him prison at 38 and resolving a felony case with a guilty plea. The shift was driven less by legal merits than by the alleged victim's withdrawal from prosecution two weeks earlier, which stripped the state of its key witness and gave Brown's team little reason to gamble on a stand-your-ground trial.
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