Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

As Miami firearms crimes defense attorneys, we were disappointed by the long sentence handed down to football player Plaxico Burress last week, as ESPN reported Sept. 23. Burress, a former wide receiver for the New York Giants, was charged after he was found in possession of a gun at a New York City nightclub. The gun was not licensed in New York or in his home state of New Jersey, and his Florida concealed carry permit had expired. Burress was originally charged with two counts of weapons possession and one count of reckless endangerment, but under a plea deal, he instead pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon.

The case is famous not only because Burress is a star athlete, but also because of the way the firearm was found. Burress had the gun tucked into the waistband of his sweatpants at the nightclub. Unfortunately, it slipped and went off, shooting Burress himself in the thigh and narrowly missing a nightclub security guard before embedding in the floor. Nobody but Burress was hurt, but the incident alerted authorities to the fact that he did not have a permit to own or carry the weapon. A video report from ESPN has more:

The defense attorney for Burress told ESPN that Burress is paying a “very, very severe penalty” for his lapse in judgment. Our Sarasota weapons charges defense lawyers strongly agree. Burress broke licensing laws, and may indeed have recklessly endangered others, as his charges said. But he did not do those things in the commission of a violent crime. Furthermore, nobody was hurt but Burress himself, who was wounded, lost several years of his career and income and, perhaps most importantly, will miss nearly two years with his wife, unborn child and three-year-old son. Under those circumstances, we believe two years in prison is a harsh and disproportionate punishment, brought on in part by overreaching state gun control laws and politicians and prosecutors eager to “make an example” of a high-profile defendant.