Whew, chile, Florida will never fail to Florida. Former New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker has had all charges against him dropped by officials in Florida’s Broward County. Why you ask? Well, the attorney representing the victims allegedly tried to extort him.
Now if that ain’t some straight Florida shit, I simply don’t know what is, reader.
According to ESPN, Baker, 23, was facing four counts of armed robbery, as well as four counts of aggravated assault. According to the original arrest warrant, Baker and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar were accused of pulling up to a dice game in Miramar, Fla., with semiautomatic weapons and going full-Deebo, snatching everyone’s chains and money. Prosecutors declined to press charges against Dunbar due to insufficient evidence but continued with the charges against Baker.
The case was already on shaky ground, with the victims recanting their sworn statements last month. What pushed it over the edge was William Dean, an attorney in South Florida representing the victims, was arrested Monday morning and charged with extortion after allegedly asking Baker to pay over $266,000 to each of his clients. He reportedly told Baker his clients would do “anything you want, so long as the money is right.”
So first of all, I think the most important question we should be asking here is “Whose mans is this?” Followed closely by “My nigga, for real, tho?”
I’m just saying, if he didn’t think he had a strong case, he could’ve just dropped it. Now granted, this is Florida, so maybe extorting defendants is just considered par for the course with attorneys. I doubt it, though. Now ol’ boy has caught a case and is quite likely to be disbarred.
Y’all already know what I gotta say: You hate to see it.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges against Baker, with assistant state attorney Paul R. Valcore releasing a statement saying “the alleged victims and the known witnesses have become uncooperative and their credibility is inalterably tarnished.” Should Baker have been convicted, he would’ve faced a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison.
Baker was initially told to steer clear of the Giants at the start of the case, with the team eventually dropping him over the summer. He is currently a free agent and, with the charges behind him now, hopes to return to the NFL. Sources close to Baker told ESPN that he has been working out in South Florida.
Hopefully, this setback doesn’t permanently derail his career. If Antonio Brown’s messy ass got another shot, a dude who was the victim of an extortion racket certainly should.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sit back and wait for the inevitable 30 for 30 or Netflix documentary this wild-ass case is going to receive.