Antonio Brown pleaded guilty on Friday to aggravated assault with a firearm in connection with a 2025 shooting outside a celebrity boxing match in Miami. Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez sentenced the former NFL star to three years of probation in Miami-Dade court. The plea to a reduced charge lets Brown avoid prison time, and the judge withheld adjudication, which means no criminal conviction will be entered on his record.
Antonio Brown, 38, had been charged with second-degree attempted murder with a firearm, a charge that carried up to 30 years in prison, including a 20-year mandatory minimum. Prosecutor Howard Rosen told the court his office sought the reduced charge because there was “a question” of whether Brown was actually attempting to shoot the victim, who had been walking away from the altercation at the time. The victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, was grazed in the neck in the shooting.
Antonio Brown plea ends attempted murder case
The shooting happened on 16 May 2025 outside a celebrity boxing event in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Police said Brown got into a fistfight with Nantambu, then grabbed a handgun from a security staffer and fired two shots at him. Brown maintained he was defending himself from an attack as others were trying to steal jewelry from him. Nantambu, a jewelry designer, has said previously that he has since forgiven Brown.
An arrest warrant on the attempted murder charge was issued in June 2025, and Brown was extradited in November 2025 from Dubai, where he has business interests, to face the charge in Miami. Brown agreed to the plea deal in September, but Mendez initially declined to accept it. She relented on Friday, and the deal closed a case that had followed Brown across the world for more than a year.
Antonio Brown case stretched from Miami to Dubai
Antonio Brown’s lawyer, Mark Eiglarsh, said his client was “extremely grateful” to put the situation behind him. “My client was facing 30 years in prison with a 20-year minimum mandatory, and he was given an offer he just couldn’t refuse,” Eiglarsh said. Brown was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection in the NFL, and he finished his career with 12,291 receiving yards. He last played in the league in 2021, and his time away from football has been marked by a series of legal and personal troubles.
The probation terms require Brown to attend weekly counseling sessions and not possess a firearm, among other conditions. A psychological evaluation is also part of the deal, according to reports from the hearing. The conditions will shape his daily life for the next three years, and any violation could bring the case back before the judge.
Friday’s hearing took place at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami, where Brown appeared in court with Eiglarsh at his side. Rosen laid out the state’s reasoning before the judge, saying the case against Brown had a weakness the prosecutors could not ignore. The victim had been walking away when the shots were fired, and that detail left room for doubt about what Brown meant to do. Mendez accepted the plea after hearing both sides, and the sentence she imposed keeps Antonio Brown out of prison while holding him to three years of court supervision.
Antonio Brown probation terms and early release
If Antonio Brown meets every condition, he can ask the court to end his probation early, in roughly 18 months. The plea deal gives him that path, and it also keeps a conviction off his record, which matters for his business interests and any future plans. The case is now closed in Miami-Dade court, and Antonio Brown left the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday with probation in place of a prison sentence. The shooting that started it all happened in May 2025, more than 17 months ago, and the guilty plea on Friday brought the legal fight to an end.