A Cincinnati Bengals intern has been indicted by the grand jury and charged with a felony for stealing items from the team.
Nicholas Brannon, who served in the Bengals' athletic training department, is being hit with a fifth-degree felony for stealing over 100 items from the team and selling them on Ebay. That carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
Brannon has since returned all merchandise still in his possession to the Bengals while saying he will reimburse the team for the cost of the merchandise he sold. Brannon was indicted on Dec. 30 of 2014, and he is now scheduled to appear before the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas on Wednesday.
Here's part of the report from Cincinnati.com:
Brannon, a student at Wilmington College, started with the internship program in May and - by the time he was arrested in December - had stolen 106 items from the Bengals' locker room, including personalized Bengals' shoes, team gear, practice wear and other game-worn items, then gave those to a friend who would sell them on eBay with both splitting the proceeds.
Those 106 items were estimated at $3,588.73 via the Hamilton County Municipal Court complaint. Of course, used team merchandise can be sold for high profits on Internet auction.
"He didn't know that it originally had any other value other than just being a fan," attorney Bill Gallagher said. "Then somebody else realizes it had value somewhere else even though (he) really wanted it in (his) room. That's the way it really started with him. It really, really did."