Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown plans to accept a plea deal in a Miami criminal case, his lawyer said Wednesday, a move that would replace an attempted murder charge with an aggravated assault plea and avoid the prospect of a lengthy prison term.
Plea deal and charges Brown, 38, had faced an attempted murder charge that, if proven at trial, could have carried a prison term of up to 30 years. Under the agreement announced by his attorney, he will plead to aggravated assault; his court appearance to formalize the deal is scheduled for next Wednesday.
Legal implications By taking the plea, Brown would forgo a contested trial and the risk of facing the higher maximum sentence tied to the original attempted murder charge. Details of any agreed sentence or other terms of the deal were not disclosed by his lawyer in the announcement cited on Wednesday.
Status and next steps The case remains pending until the plea is entered and accepted by the court at the hearing next week. The lawyer’s statement did not provide further comment on the circumstances that led to the charges or on any additional legal conditions that may accompany the plea.
Context Plea agreements are a common resolution in the U.S. criminal justice system and often result in reduced charges or sentences compared with those that might be imposed following a conviction at trial. The outcome in Brown’s case will be determined once the judge reviews and accepts the negotiated terms in open court.