Former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress returned to the headlines this week, thanks to comparisons between his 2008 gun mishap and former (and likely future) Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul’s 2015 fireworks mishap. Burress also returned to court this week, and it turns out that his latest legal entanglement is far from over.
In May, TMZ reported that Burress avoided prison on tax evasion charges via a deal to pay New Jersey roughly $48,000. That’s not the case.
Via Kevin Shea of NJ.com, Burress received a plea offer in court on Thursday, but he didn’t accept it.
According to Shea, Assistant Mercer (N.J.) County Prosecutor James Scott said Burress was offered a deal that would put him on probation for five years -- and behind bars for 364 days. Scott also said that Burress has not offered to pay the back taxes.
Complicating matters is the fact that Burress has a criminal record. Without it, he’d be more likely to receive an offer of probation without jail time.
Burress is the first person to be prosecuted under a new law in New Jersey that equates a failed electronic funds transfer to a bad check. Prosecutors claim Burresss filed his 2013 tax return in October 2014, but that the electronic payment didn’t go through. After alerting Burress to the development, Burress allegedly did not respond.
The prosecution began after additional efforts to reach Burress failed to generate a response.
Burress, who also played for the Steelers and Jets, is due to return to court in August.