Hall of Fame NFL player Lawrence Taylor (New York Giants 1981 to 1993) was arraigned for failing to adequately report his current residence as a sex offender and spent several hours in a Broward County, Florida, prison.
Taylor (65) was accused of one count of not complying with the legislation requiring sex offenders to be registered.
A plea deal he made in 2010 for having sexual relations involving a 16-year-old whom he said represented herself to be 19 requires him to disclose any changes to his residence. Taylor received a six-year probationary term after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges: sexual misconduct and having sexual relations with a minor. A maximum punishment of five years in jail is possible for the present offense, which is a third-degree felony.
According to defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh, failure to register was due to a serious misunderstanding and should not warrant incarceration. Taylor intends to plead not guilty. For the second time in as many years, Taylor was clear that he had no intention of committing a crime.
Eiglarsh said that after the prosecutors have looked over the evidence, Taylor will be cleared.
The Fort Lauderdale sheriff’s office said that Taylor had been booked into the prison and released on bond on July 18th. There is currently no scheduled court hearing.
Taylor has had many brushes with the law. He was pulled over for fleeing an accident scene in Florida twice in 1996 and 2009. After his vehicle crashed into a motor home and sideswiped a police vehicle in 2016, he was taken into custody in Florida on accusations of drunk driving.
During rush hour, Taylor was driving one hour north of Miami when his Bentley collided with a motor home and, when changing lanes, swiped a side mirror off a police vehicle.
There were no reports of injuries. The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) brought Taylor to the Palm Beach County Jail. The arrest record states that the trooper administered roadside sobriety tests, and Taylor did not pass.
According to FHP, around five hours after the accident, Taylor’s blood alcohol level was 0.082 and 0.084. The permissible threshold is 0.08.