Friday, September 25, 2026 - Former NFL star Antonio Brown will accept a plea deal in his second-degree attempted murd£r case, resulting in probation and avoiding the possibility of a decades-long prison sentence, his attorney said Wednesday.
The deal comes two weeks after Brown's accuser, the sole
alleged victim in the case, announced that he would no longer participate in
Brown's prosecution.
"They made [Brown] an offer he couldn't refuse,"
Brown's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said in a statement. "There is a profound
difference between believing you can win a case and deciding that you and your
family cannot afford to spend another year, or potentially several years,
wearing an ankle monitor and fighting it."
Brown will appear before a judge in one week to formally
accept the deal, which will be a reduced charge of aggravated ass@ult, Eiglarsh
told ESPN on Wednesday.
"There's no prison, there's no jail, there's no house
arrest. There's only straight probation," Eiglarsh told ESPN. "And no
alcohol or drug evaluation, no psychological evaluation, no letter of apology,
no community service hours, no fines. Just stay away from the victim.
"No one in their right mind will continue with
litigation and/or uncertain stand your ground and trial when [the prosecutors]
threw that on the table."
Brown, 38, faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted, with
a mandatory minimum of 20 years under Florida law, for an incident involving
gunfire outside an amateur boxing match in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood in
May 2025.
He pleaded not guilty in November 2025 and filed a motion to
dismiss the following month based on Florida's "stand your ground"
law.
Eiglarsh added that Brown's decision to accept the deal
"should not be interpreted as a retreat from his position that he acted
lawfully."
The alleged victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, said through his attorney on Sept. 9 that "he does not wish to participate" in Brown's prosecution. Attorney Richard L. Cooper said earlier this month that Nantambu forgave Brown for the May 2025 incident.
"We believe that the ends of justice are accomplished with this plea deal, and my client wishes Mr. Brown good health," Cooper told ESPN on Wednesday.
After the May 2025 incident, Brown spent nearly six months
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he traveled after the incident before
being extradited by U.S. marshals. Brown was released on $25,000 bail and
placed on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.
According to the "stand your ground" motion, Brown
was trying to get to his car for safety after Nantambu had attacked him. Police
said Brown punched Nantambu in the face and, along with two others, continued
the attack.
Nantambu walked away, according to a police description of
the security footage. Brown then "chases him down with a gun and shoots at
him at point-blank range," according to a prosecutor. Police added that
video from social media showed Brown with a gun in his hand near Nantambu.
Two gunsh0ts followed. Nantambu ducked after the first shot
was heard, police said.
The stand your ground motion, which acknowledged Brown as
the shooter, indicated he "reasonably feared" that Nantambu was armed
and that Nantambu made an "aggressive movement" toward Brown.
"In that moment, Brown again reasonably feared de@th or
great bodily harm," the motion read.
Brown then fired two "warning shots, intentionally
aiming away from Nantambu to ensure he would not be struck," the motion
asserted. Brown also said Nantambu took the weapon after a struggle and left
with it.
Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide
receiver who last played in 2021 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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