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, according to the indictment.
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. Brannon was indicted on Dec. 30 of last year and will appear before the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas on Wednesday.
He's charged with a fifth-degree felony - the lowest in Ohio - that carries with it a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
Brannon's internship was cut off once the alleged theft occurred. The Bengals offered no comment on the matter.
His attorney, Bill Gallagher, stated his hope was to have the case resolved in less than a month with Brannon being referred to diversion and not garnering a conviction. He stated Brannon was not involved in any selling of the merchandise online and picked up most of the items as discarded equipment left laying around the locker room.
"He didn't know that it originally had any other value other than just being a fan," 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."
Brannon already returned all merchandise still in his possession to the Bengals. He plans to reimburse the team for the cost of all the merchandise taken he's responsible for, a cost still being negotiated to find fair value.
"He is not a collector," Gallagher said. "Nick looked at it as a fan and it just got a little out of hand. He's a 21-year-old kid who made a stupid mistake. He hopes he's going to get to rectify all of it."
Dehner Jr. also writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
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