In a shocking example of legal musical chairs, all charges were dropped for the accused New York Giants cornerback Deandre Baker on Monday, for an alleged armed robbery in May.
At the same time, North Miami Beach Attorney William A. Dean, who represented three of the four victims in the crime, was then arrested for allegedly extorting Baker in a scheme to receive a cash payout.
This dramatic turn of events is the latest twist in a surreal case that began among gambling revelers at a Florida party, where two professional football players allegedly threatened guests with a gun. Dean, who represented three of the victims at the party, is now charged with extorting Baker in order to receive a large payout for three of the victims.
The Broward County Sheriff’s department issued a press release, stating, “According to investigators, Dean wanted Baker to pay each of his clients more than $266,000, and in exchange, the victims in the case would either stop cooperating with prosecutors in the criminal case, or change their initial sworn statements to police, thereby weakening the case against Baker.”
As details of this new case come to light, attorney Dean, who is a partner at Ford, Dean & Rotundo in North Miami Beach, is now awaiting his own trial.
As for Baker, 23, if he had been found guilty and was convicted for the now-dropped original charges of four counts of robbery with a firearm, he could have served a minimum of ten years in prison.