Former NFL star wide receiver Plaxico Burress pleads guilty in New Jersey tax-evasion case

TRENTON, N.J. – Former NFL star Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty Monday to New Jersey tax evasion charges after reaching a plea deal that could potentially spare him any jail time.

Burress, 38, of Totowa, declined to comment on the plea he entered in state Superior Court, telling reporters to “have a good day” as he left the courtroom.

Burress faces up to five years of probation when he’s sentenced on Feb. 5. He also will have to pay roughly $56,000 in restitution and penalties, prosecutors said, and could face a 364-day county jail term if he fails to make the payment by the time he completes his probation.

The former wide receiver with the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and New York Jets admitted that he didn’t pay $46,000 in state taxes on his $1 million income in 2013. In return for his plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of issuing a bad check or electronic funds transfer.

Prosecutors have said Burress filed his 2013 state income tax, but the electronic transfer to cover his payment didn’t go through. Tax officials said they repeatedly contacted Burress about the matter but didn’t get a response.

Burress has had previous brushes with the law.

He pleaded guilty in 2009 to violating a New York weapons law after he accidentally shot himself in the leg. He spent 20 months in prison.

Burress, who caught the winning touchdown for the Giants in the 2008 Super Bowl, returned to the NFL after his release from prison but has not played since 2012.