Legal Newswire Blog

New York, September 22, 2009 – Plaxico Burress, former New York Giants wide receiver and Super Bowl hero,  began  serving a two-year jail sentence today for gun possession, after accidentally shooting himself at a nightclub last year. Burress, 32, pleaded guilty to a criminal weapons possession charge in August.

Plaxico Burress arrives for sentencing with defense lawyer Benjamin Brafton - Reuters

Burress’ football career was on the rise after he caught the winning touchdown in the Giants’ Super Bowl win in February 2008.

However, the Giants and the NFL suspended him after he pleaded guilty to a gun possession charge.

Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh with his own handgun last November while at a New York City nightclub. He did not have a license to carry a gun in New York.

Criminal defense lawyer, Benjamin Brafton, said in August that Burress would seek to resume his football career after completing the jail term, possibly as early as 2011.

Burress agreed last month to a two-year term for a single gun charge, avoiding a prison term of between 3-and-1/2 and 15 years had he been convicted on two counts of criminal possession and one misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment, for which he was indicted in August.

Burress stands to lose millions of dollars in salary, since the NFL declared him ineligible to sign with any team until after his release.

Burress tearfully told his family goodbye as he was taken away to serve his sentence.

His lawyer, Benjamin Brafton said, “This is a very real tragic case in many, many ways.” He called Burress “a fundamentally decent man.”

“This was not an intentional criminal act,” Brafman said. “In my judgment, a two-year prison sentence is a very severe punishment.”

Gil Brandt, an analyst on NFL  said Burress won’t be too old for a comeback when he’s released from prison.

“First of all, Plaxico is a guy who keeps himself in pretty good shape,” Brandt said. “Lots of times guys get heavy in the offseason. He is not a guy who has done that.”

But Brandt admits that it coud be difficult for Burress.

“It’s like a person who has gone to college or high school and drops out of school for two years,” he said. “It is hard to reacquire your study habits. I think it is hard to reacquire the work habits you need to be successful when you have been away from the game for two years or so.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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