Former four-division world titleholder Adrien Broner was sent to county jail for 30 days on Tuesday for failing to show up on time for his own trial.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman found Broner in contempt of court after he did not show up for his trial on felony assault and aggravated robbery charges.
The charges stem from an incident during the early-morning hours of Jan. 21 in which Broner allegedly assaulted a man and robbed him of $12,000 at gunpoint outside of a Cincinnati bowling alley. Broner allegedly lost the money to the victim during a night of high-stakes betting on bowling games, knocked him unconscious outside the bowling alley after a confrontation and took the money.
When Broner failed to show up promptly at the courthouse for the trial on Tuesday morning, Ruehlman issued an arrest warrant. Broner eventually arrived at the courthouse at about noon, about three hours late, but the judge did not rescind the contempt charge and sent him to jail.
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Adrien Broner will spend 30 days in jail after showing up late and possibly hungover to his own trial.
Stephanie Trapp/Mayweather Promotions
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Broner's hometown paper, Broner was said to appear ill when he arrived and told Ruehlman that "somebody put something in my drink" the previous night. He added: "I don't even drink. I didn't drink last night."
"You don't look well. You look like you have a hangover," Ruehlman said, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by the newspaper.
Broner's response, according to the transcript, was, "I have been sick all morning. When I finally got well, I called my lawyer."
Ruehlman did not buy Broner's story and told him, according to the transcript, "It's not a good excuse. He looks like he's drunk or hungover. To coin a little boxing phrase -- you're not ducking this one."
Will Welsh, Broner's lawyer, told the Enquirer that Broner accepted the ruling, adding "He certainly apologizes and understands why the judge was upset."
Ruehlman told Broner, 26, that he was considering dismissing the case had Broner been in the courtroom on time, according to the newspaper.
After the bowling alley incident, Broner had two outstanding felony warrants for his arrest, but he still boxed in Washington, D.C., in a nationally televised fight on April 1 and knocked out Ashley Theophane in the ninth round -- one day after being stripped of his junior welterweight world title for failing to make weight.
Broner (32-2, 24 KOs) returned to Cincinnati and turned himself in on April 4 as had been arranged between his attorney and Hamilton County officials a few days before the fight. Broner was released later that day on $100,000 bond and pled not guilty at his arraignment on April 5. The trial was set to begin Tuesday.
According to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office website, Broner was taken into custody at 12:45 p.m. ET. Part of Broner's entry includes the comment, "Do not release under any circumstances per Judge Ruehlman."
Broner was in line for a fall pay-per-view fight against Manny Pacquiao, but Pacquiao promoter Top Rank stopped the talks, saying Broner had asked for much more money than was available to pay Pacquiao's opponent
***ESPN
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