MIAMI (Court TV) — A former NFL star avoided prison time Friday by accepting a plea deal that resolved a case stemming from a fight outside a celebrity boxing match in 2025.
Antonio Brown appears with his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, in court on Nov. 6, 2026. (Court TV)
Antonio Brown, 38, had initially faced a charge of second-degree attempted murder after prosecutors said he fired shots at a man during a fight. On Friday, Brown pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a firearm. That charge typically carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, but prosecutors agreed to recommend probation in Brown’s case.
Brown had never denied firing shots, but said that prosecutors had the rest of the story wrong. Brown had claimed, through his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, that he had been attacked by the alleged victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, who Brown said was waiting for him outside of the boxing match. Eiglarsh claimed that Brown suffered an injury to his eye during the attack before he pulled out his own weapon, which he was licensed to carry and had lawfully concealed. Brown said he fired shots but intentionally aimed away from Nantambu as a warning. Eiglarsh accused Nantambu of wrestling the gun away from Brown and fleeing the scene; Brown stayed and spoke with officers.
In court on Friday, Assistant State Attorney Howard Rosen conceded prosecutors couldn’t be sure whether Brown was aiming at Nantambu when he opened fire. “There’s a question as to whether or not he was intentionally firing it in an effort to strike him with it, right? And that’s why we are reducing the charge to an aggravated assault,” Rosen said.
Rosen said that Nantambu approved of the plea agreement. “He did not want to cooperate in this prosecution,” Rosen said of the victim. “He has publicly told the media that he did not want to go forward, and rather than the entire case going away and there being no opportunity for Mr. Brown to receive what’s ultimately going to be some therapeutic treatment, you know, we all came together, defense and the state, and decided that this was in the best interest of everybody.”
Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez accepted the prosecution’s recommendation and Brown’s guilty plea. She withheld adjudication, meaning Brown will not have a formal criminal conviction. Tinkler Mendez sentenced Brown to three years of probation, with conditions that he attend weekly counseling sessions and have no contact with the victim.
FILE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown (81) walks on the field during an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Jan. 2, 2022, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
“Antonio and I are extremely grateful that this matter has finally been resolved,” Eiglarsh said in a statement to Court TV after the hearing. “He faced a 30-year prison sentence, including a 20-year mandatory minimum. The prosecutors offered to reduce the charge and allow him to serve probation without a conviction. Given the stakes, it was an offer we couldn’t refuse.”
Brown spent more than a decade playing wide receiver in the NFL. He spent most of that career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, though he finished it with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
