Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown accepts plea deal, will avoid prison in attempted murder case
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Antonio Brown, the controversial former NFL star wide receiver who gained infamy in the Capital Region for his brief and tumultuous ownership of the now-defunct Albany Empire, will accept a plea deal in his attempted murder case in Miami and avoid a potential lengthy prison sentence, his attorney said Wednesday.
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In a statement provided to the Times Union, attorney Mark Eiglarsh said Brown will appear before Judge Tinkler Mendez in Miami-Dade County court next week to accept a plea deal that will "dramatically reduce the criminal charge against him" and result in Brown serving probation rather than prison time.
"They made him an offer he couldn't refuse," Eiglarsh said in his statement.
ESPN reported that Brown will accept a reduced charge of aggravated assault. The 38-year-old was charged with second-degree attempted murder this past November for his role in a May 16, 2025 incident after a celebrity boxing event in Miami in which he is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier.
Related:The rise and fall of Antonio Brown's Albany Empire
Brown, if convicted on the attempted murder charge, faced a minimum mandatory 20-year prison sentence and a potential maximum 30-year sentence.
Brown pleaded not guilty to the charge this past November and later filed a motion to dismiss the case under Florida's "stand your ground" law.
"He is not accepting this agreement because he suddenly agrees with the State's allegations," Eiglarsh said in his statement. "He is accepting it because the State made him an offer he couldn't refuse. 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."
The move to accept the plea deal comes two weeks after the alleged victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, announced through his attorney that he would no longer participate in the prosecution and had forgiven Brown for the May 2025 incident.
While a warrant was out for his arrest, Brown spent nearly six months in Dubai before being extradited by U.S. marshals and formally charged in November. He was released on $25,000 bail and placed on house arrest. While under house arrest, he attended the launch party of an album released by Sticker Mule CEO and New York 21st Congressional District candidate Anthony Constantino. Brown is featured on one of the tracks on Constantino's album.
"This was not an easy decision," said Eiglarsh. "Antonio believes in his innocence. He believes strongly in his Stand Your Ground defense, and he believes he would ultimately prevail at trial. But when prosecutors put an offer on the table that transforms a potential decades-long prison sentence into a significantly reduced charge and probation, there was simply no way he could reasonably turn it down."
Brown played 12 seasons in the NFL, most of them with the Pittsburgh Steelers, in a career that saw him catch 928 passes for 12,291 yards and 83 touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Bowl seven times, was a four-time first-team All-Pro and was named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team.
Brown has been a magnet for controversy during and since his NFL career, with a multitude of legal issues. He last played in the NFL in Week 17 of the 2021 season when, as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he took off his jersey, shoulder pads, gloves and shirt before running off the field and into the locker room during a game against the New York Jets. He was released days later.
Brown's post-NFL career was also marred by his ignominious 2023 stint as an arena football owner in Albany.
In March 2023, he joined the ownership group of the Albany Empire, who were then part of the National Arena League. His father, former Albany Firebirds star Eddie Brown, was named the team's vice president of operations.
Antonio Brown quickly began claiming he was the team's sole owner. Mike Kwarta, at that point a co-owner of the team, disagreed and said he and Brown each owned a 47.5% stake in the Empire, with the remaining 5% owned by Steve and Charlotte von Schiller. The Times Union reported days later that Kwarta sold his share of the team to Brown for $1.
By May of that year, the Empire franchise was in turmoil following a missed payday and several suspensions.
Controversies ensued over the hiring of coaches, assertions that Brown would play for and coach the team, alleged bad behavior at local hotels and an inquiry by the NAL into an exchange of insults between Brown and the one of the owners of a rival team.
In June 2023, the NAL terminated the Empire's membership agreement over the team's failure to pay money owed to the league. Brown was also fined $1,000 for conduct detrimental to the league.
The Empire never played again after their expulsion from the NAL. The Albany Firebirds, co-owned by Kwarta, were reborn for the 2024 season in a new version of the Arena Football League, though Albany departed that league after one season to help form Arena Football One, where the franchise has played the last two years.
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