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The family of a man accused of trying to extort NFL star Tyrann Mathieu of millions of dollars said Wednesday they had been threatened by the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive back.
George Sears, the brother of Geourvon Sears -- who is accused of telling Mathieu he would go to the media and accuse the veteran of sexual misconduct if Mathieu didn’t pay him large sums of money -- said in court that Mathieu put a hit out on his brother and sent threatening messages to their family, WDSU-TV reported.
The family said the extortion plot came after Mathieu made threats against them. George's and Geourvon's mother testified Mathieu made threats against her and her sons over social media, according to WDSU-TV.
Mathieu’s agent, Denise White, released a statement from the player’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, after the hearing.
“Mr. Mathieu contacted me at the direction of his rep, Denise White, to advise and assist him as he was being victimized by malevolent family members. Once Mr. Mathieu decided to stop assisting these individuals financially, they turned to harassment slander and extortion in their quest to gain financially.
Rosenblum continued: “Their slanderous comments are wholly without merit and were designed to be outrageous enough to secure their outrageous demand of $25,000,000 dollars. Mr. Mathieu is a victim of an unscrupulous shake down. He is a victim of a crime which he reported to authorities and authorities took immediate action. He simply refused to compromise his integrity and cow tow to this criminal conduct."
During the hearing, Geourvon Sears’ bond was revoked. Sears admitted to smoking marijuana every day since he was about 10 years old and acknowledged he was tampering with his ankle monitor. WDSU-TV reported.
It’s unclear how the Sears family is related to Mathieu. Geourvon has only been described as a distant relative.
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Mathieu is from New Orleans and played college football at LSU where he earned the nickname "Honey Badger" for his toughness on the field. He signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Chiefs in the offseason. He previously played for the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans.
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