Innocent until proven guilty, right? Well, usually paying off victims goes against every rule in the book, and New York Giants’ corner DeAndre Baker could be facing extraordinary consequences for his actions.
Just one day after the Florida courthouse that was helping press charges against him enabled him to travel to New York for training camp, a report entered the fold that indicated he had paid off victims.
The New York Giants should stay away from DeAndre Baker for the time being
According to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, Baker did just that with Seahawks corner Quinton Dunbar. On May 14, both players were arrested on armed robbery charges.
However, after witnesses initially blamed Baker and Dunbar for the situation, they rescinded their comments and completely took a 180 on the matter. Leonard and the Daily News obtained a search warrant as a public record from the Broward County Clerk of Courts. The evidence they found is alarming and includes video footage and direct messages of Dominic Johnson, a witness, seeing the payoffs from Baker and Dunbar.
Johnson reportedly curated numerous messages on Instagram that indicates the payoff. He has known both Baker and Dunbar since they were children. All four victims have now produced sworn statements indicating they were paid off to take back their initial testimonies. The report states that the players offered $55K to the witnesses to reactant their statements.
“Johnson is telling Baker to come to Dunbar Lawyer’s office,” Moretti writes. “Baker replied, ‘Yo I’m in the city now getting cash how much to bring ?? I’m tryna get there too u ASAP.'”
Michael Greico, Baker’s lawyer on the situation, in which he claimed Leonard’s research false:
“Law enforcement, both local and federal, was advised from day one and beyond that the alleged ‘victims’ in this case were actively extorting Baker and Dunbar,” he told the Seattle Times. “These men fabricated a robbery story after waiting an hour to call police and then immediately began contacting the players demanding money.
“My office obtained accurate and truthful affidavits consistent with the independent witness and my client’s account. These ‘victims’ are seasoned career criminals who have been arrested and/or convicted of crimes ranging from conspiracy to commit murder, to human trafficking, to filing a false police report. Mr. Dunbar took and passed a polygraph confirming that he did not participate or witness any robbery.”
As new information begins to bubble to the surface, it is impossible to know what will happen next. Clearly, this case is far from over and the new evidence is clear. The New York Giants want nothing to do with Baker until he figures out his legal issues, and that doesn’t seem to be coming to a close anytime soon.